Open My Heart
by xxBlackxxAngelxx
Summary: Annika Conte comes to stay with the Sohmas and Tohru.What she thought wasn't what she found. And bad things happen and things get revealed. When they hitget revealed can one person help her get through all the pain? Rated M for Lemons in later chapters
1. Meet the Family

I _DO NOT_ own any of the Fruits Basket characters. But I _DO_ own Annika and her family and friends! And there will be a lemons in later chapters. But please give me reviews and comments about it.  
And I do admit I'm not as familiar to Fruits Basket as some… The characters might be a bit out of character, and for that i'm sorry. i don't mean for them to be. and if I do write some of the characters OOC… then please forgive me and give me some slack. Thanks.

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Open My Heart: Meet the Family

The air plane landed at the airport on March 31, 2006. And there in the lobby of the airport stood Annika Conte looking into the crowd looking for the man that was to pick her up.  
She had spent many months talking to the family that was to be her family for the next year as she took up a position to be an exchange student from the Americas. Months she had spent talking to a boy her age named Yuki Sohma. Months talking about politics, the ways of their separate countries, as well as the way that they lived at home.

Now that she was actually here in Japan, and standing in one of their airports doubt began to creep into her mind. Telling her to go back on that plane and go back to her own country. It wasn't until a hand laid to rest on her shoulder that she was brought back into reality.

"Miss?" Annika turned around startled to find herself looking into the eyes of a young man a couple inches taller than she, violet/grayish eyes and purplish hair. A small smile lay across his face as he looked at her., "Miss… I'm sorry to have startled you, but would you happen to be Miss. Conte?"

Annika smiled back at him, "Please, call me Annika. I'm very pleased to meet you"

"As am I, Miss Annika, now if you would like I can take you back to my uncles house and I can introduce you to my family" Yuki picked up her bag and looked at her waiting for the ok. For as much as he was exited to be there he wanted to get out of the crowded airport as fast as possible.

Looking at him with a smile she said, "Ok… but I think I should go down and make sure my luggage will be safely sent over to your house. Shouldn't I?"

Yuki chuckled, "Yes but of course. Let us attend to that" He said as he led the way to the baggage claim.

After the two of them talked to the man at the table, and arranged for Annika's baggage to be delivered at once to the Sohma house then the two of them headed outside where Yuki led the way to where he parked the car. The drive to the Sohma Estate was a quiet one but it was by no means awkward. Annika spent the time looking out the window watching all the people they drove by as well as all the buildings and shopping places. They spent about an hour driving through the city before they reached an area where there were no buildings, just trees lining a dirt road which eventually ended at a house with very handsome features.

Yuki stopped the car in front of the house and got out. He walked over to the other side of the car and opened the door for Annika.

"Thank you Yuki-kun" Annika said as she looked over all the details of the house. She grabbed one of the bags that she had brought on the plane while Yuki took the other bag and walked into the house with Yuki once again taking the lead.

Yuki showed Annika around the downstairs floor before showing her to her room upstairs which she would later find out was next to Torhu Honda's room. Then Yuki left Annika alone so she could put her stuff in its place. The room was bigger then the one at home, It was a window seat, a desk, a full size bed, bedside table, dresser, closet and a large book case. The two bags that she had with her were mostly her books and other things that she had wanted to bring on the trip over and have access to. She began to place some of her books onto the book shelf, while placing the pictures of her younger siblings on her desk.

She placed her laptop on the desk as well before she set to work putting up her internet system. After she was done she sat at her window looking down into the yard below. A small pond stood in the back with beautiful plants growing all around it. Thoughts of home crept back into her mind since being at the airport. Images of home invaded her mind as she saw her family standing outside of their home as their mother drove her to the airport, her father nowhere in sight.

As she sat at the window Annika heard voices coming from down the hall, one a male voice, Yuki's, the other one female. Curious as she was Annika stayed were she was not wanting to bud into their conversation so then deciding to tune them out as she continued her inspection of the yard below.

It wasn't long though before she heard a small knock on her door. Annika got up from her spot and walked over to the door, opening it to find a girl with brown hair and big eyes smiling at her.

"Welcome. My name is Tohru Honda, please call me Torhu!" Torhu held out her hand. Annika smiled back at her already liking the girl in front of her.

"Thank you. My name is Annika Conte. I'm honored to be here. Please, come in and stay a while. I could probably use the company" Annika opened the door wider so as to invite Tohru into her new room. The two walked over to the window seat and sat down looking at each other.

"So, Yuki tells me that you came from America?"

"Yes that's right. You speak very good English"

Tohru's face flushed a bright pink, "Yes, I decided to learn it when I was very young. My grandpa taught me"

Annika chuckled, "That's a smart thing to do then. Cause to be honest I don't know much Japanese. I feel bad saying that… but it was an offered opportunity to come here so I took it. I don't get to travel much so I take the chance when ever I'm offered"

Tohru's eyes sparkled, "Really?? I would have guessed that you traveled a lot. Since your skin is so tan from the average American"

"Oh no, I don't travel at all. I'm half Italian. So I get my tan skin from my father's side of the family"

"OH Italian!" Tohru couldn't contain her excitement, "How exciting. Do you have family in Italy?"

"Yes I do. I visited them right before I came over here. So it was nice to see nonna and nonno again," Annika laughed again at Tohru's confused face, "nonna and nonno is Italian for grandma and grandpa."

Tohru's face once again flushed a bright pink, "Oh of course! I didn't know you could speak Italian so well."

"Oh yeah, since my father was raised in Italy for most of his life it was only natural that he taught me and my siblings"

"How many-" But she was cut off my another knock on the door

"Come in!" Annika called to the door, feeling too lazy to get back up.

A second later Yuki's head popped into the room, "Miss. Honda, would you assist me in the kitchen?"

"Oh yes of course Yuki-kun. I'll be right there," Tohru got up to leave but before heading out the door she turned back to Annika, "Like I said before, Welcome. I really hope that we can become really good friends while you stay here. It'll be nice to have another girl in the house for a change." Then she was gone and once again Annika was left to her own thoughts.

Looking around the room, Annika walked over to the bed that was neatly made with fresh sheets that smelled of lavender and chamomile, her favorite sent. She faintly remembered telling Yuki that it was her favorite sent, because it always reminded her of her childhood when her mother and her father had spent her first 5 years in Italy with her father's parents. Her nonna had always smelt of lavender and chamomile. Even thought neither flower where native to Italy, nonna always managed to smell like lavender and chamomile. She lay upon the bed silently smelling the sheets, soon falling asleep dreaming of those childhood memories that she would always remember.

Meanwhile, Yuki and Tohru continued to talk downstairs about their new guest.

"She seems very nice Yuki-kun! I'm so very glad that she has come to stay with us." Tohru glanced over at Yuki before turning her attention back to the fish that she was cooking for dinner. "When will she be starting school?"

"She will start next Monday" Yuki replied as he finished chopping an onion. (A/N: I'm sorry if I don't get their food right! I'm very bad at this! Please forgive me) He looked over at Tohru who was again busily preparing the meat, before turning her attention to the rice. With a small sigh he turned back to continue his copping of carrots. It would probably become very interesting to have another person around the house. Not that they never had people coming through.

The meal prepared, the Sakana on the table and everyone but two sat at the table ready to eat. Looking around obliviously, Shigure sat at his place looking longingly at the food before him while Tohru and Yuki exchanged looks.

"You did tell Miss Annika that dinner is ready right Miss. Honda?" Yuki asked as he looked towards the stairs.

"Uh… yes I did. Maybe she didn't hear me. I'll go and see" Tohru got up from her place and walked up the stairs. When she arrived at Annika's door she knocked softly. When no one answered she knocked again. When no one answered she opened the door and poked her head inside.

"Annika?" Here eyes fell upon the sleeping form on the bed and smiled as she closed the door again. When Tohru arrived back downstairs Kyo was sitting at the table in his usual bad mood, "She's sleeping. I'll just save her some," Quickly Tohru put some of their dinner onto Annika's plate and put it in the kitchen, "Alright lets eat then," She said as she sat back down.

"Who the hell are you talking about?" Kyo asked as he stuffed his mouth with fish.

"Our exchange student baka neko" Yuki replied.

Kyo swallowed and glared at Yuki, "Damn rat! When did we get an exchange student?"

"I picked her up today from the airport."

Kyo glared once more at Yuki before eating more of his food. The rest of dinner was eaten in silence.

It was the next morning by the time Annika woke up from her deep and restful slumber. Sun filtered through her window making it impossible to go back to sleep. Giving up on sleeping, Annika sat up taking in her surroundings. The sun lit the room profoundly, lighting up the beautiful light blue color of the walls. 'I wonder how long I've been out' Annika thought to herself. Slowly Annika got out off bed and walked over to her bag. Quickly she changed into her sweat pants and tank before going in search of the bathroom.

Without even thing her body came into auto pilot. She did her business, washed her face, brushed her hair and teeth then headed down the stairs. As much as she wished her mind was still not awake making rather slow.

When she got to the kitchen she sat down at the kitchen table, folding her arms on the table and burying her head in her arms. It was only a couple minutes before she heard footsteps behind her.

"You'll get me my fruit loops won't you me sweet Izzy? Please?" Annika asked without even thinking.

"What the hell?!" A baritone voice said.

Annika's head shot up and she looked at the man you had spoken to her. Red eyes starred angrily down at her. Annika felt her face pale as the red head man starred at her.

"I… I uh… I'm so sorry!" Quickly Annika stood up and bowed. Her face was bright pink at her sudden lapse in memory.

"Who the hell are you?" Kyo shot at her.

Straightening up Annika starred straight into his eyes, "Annika Conte," She replied.

"So you're that damned exchange student that they were talking about at dinner" Kyo took out the milk and started drinking out of the carton.

"Ya know, it's polite to pour the milk in a glass before you drink it" Annika commented. The red head glared at her before putting the milk back in the fridge and walked out of the kitchen mumbling to himself. Suddenly not hungry Annika went up to her room grabbed her running shows and her hoodie and decided to go out for a quick run.

The air was cool and crisp, perfect weather for a run. As Annika ran, she passed shops and restaurants and homes. About an hour of running brought her to a park with children playing on the play structure. The swings not far off were unoccupied so Annika sat down and watched the children play. Not long after Annika continued her morning run but this time heading back I the other direction. She only got lost once on the way back. And when those few times did happen she was able to find a kind person to get her back to her path.

It was around 8 am when Annika finally arrived back at the house sweat pouring down her face and hr breathe coming in heavy pants. Annika walked up to her room to find all her luggage either sitting on her bed or on the floor. Just as she stripped to her underwear and a bra she heard a knock at her door.

"Who is it??" Annika called.

"Its Tohru" Came a female voice.

"Oh come in" Tohru opened the door and walked into the room, "Morning Tohru-chan" Annika said with a smile on her face.

"Oh!" Tohru looked surprised when she saw what Annika was wearing, "Do you want me to come back? I didn't mean to interrupt you from anything" And she turned to leave the room and leave Annika to finish dressing.

"Oh no please don't. I just want to get out of my sweaty clothes," Annika laughed. Tohru turned back around and sat down on the chair next to the desk with a smile on her face.

"I hope you didn't mind me not waking you last night. You looked so tired so I left you to sleep" Annika took out a towel and some other clothes.

"Oh don't worry about it. I was tired. So thank you for letting me sleep."

"No problem. Have you eaten breakfast yet?"

Annika shook her head, "No I just got in from my morning run. I was hoping to take a shower before I eat if that's ok with you"

"Yes of course. Would you like me to make you breakfast when you are done with your shower?"

"Yes that would be nice. Thank you so much Tohru" Annika replied. Tohru once again turned to leave when Annika asked, "Tohru? Who is the guy with orange hair and red eyes?"

Chuckling Tohru replied, "Oh that would be Kyo. He usually is in a bad mood. So don't be offended if he is unpleasant" With that Tohru left the room leaving Annika to take her shower. Annika grabbed her clothes, wrapped a towel around her body along with her shampoo and conditioner as well as her body soap and headed off towards the shower.

She stripped completely before setting her clothing and towel by the door. Then she turned on the shower and adjusted the temperature before stepping into the soft waterfall coming out of the nozzle. The warm water felt wonderful upon her sweat soaked skin. Annika took her body soap which smelled sweetly of Honeysuckle. After washing body free of sweat she took her shampoo and poured some into her hand. With that she went on to washing her hair and spending a couple minutes afterwards just basking in the warm that was pouring from above her.

Turning off the water Annika walked over to her towel and wrapped it around her and began to dry herself off. Minutes later Annika walked out of the shower room and walked over to her room.

Sighing Annika pulled her laundry basket out of one of her big bags and put her towel that was now wrapped in her hair into the basket along with the clothes that had gone running in. Then she walked over to her desk, opened her laptop and opened a window which led her to her e-mail. A smile crossed her face as she saw that her sister was online. Quickly Annika opened a new message and typed in Italian,

'**Ehi Izzy. Come le cose sostengono sono alla casa? La manco già gli individui. Lei soprattutto, manco vedendo la mia piccola faccia della sorella.**' (A/N: Here I'll put the translation: Hey Izzy. How are things back at home? I already miss you guys. You especially, i miss seeing my little sister's face.)

She waited a couple minutes and to her delight, a message was now sitting on her screen.

'**Oh Anna! La manco cosí terribilmente molto! Le cose sono andate matto poiché lei ha lasciato. Sembra come se il padre è stato in anche più di un umore cattivo poi mai! Ma abbastanza della casa! Come le cose sono lí in Giappone? Le persone sono il suo stare con piacevole?' **(Translation: Oh Anna! I miss you so terribly much! Things have been going crazy since you left. It seems as if father has been in even more of a bad mood then ever! But enough about home! How are things there in Japan? Are the people your staying with nice?)

Annika smiled at her younger sister's enthusiasms.

'**Sì le persone sono molto piacevoli. Quel Yuki di ragazzo che l'ho detta di è molto piacevole veramente. E c'è una ragazza molto dolce che dorme nella stanza prossima di scavare. Ma c'è un ragazzo... non è ciò piacevole. Il Tohru, quella ragazza che ho detto appena lei, ha detto circa me che si chiama Kyo e che è di solito in un umore cattivo. Sembra già come se non me ama. Un giorno verso la fine dell'anno che lei avrà per venire e visitarme e vede che la mia vita è stato qui come! Oh la sorella cara dice per favore che lei ciò farà!' **(Translation: Yes the people are very nice. That boy Yuki that I've told you about he is very nice indeed. And there is a very sweet girl that sleeps in the room next to mine. But there is one boy... he isn't that nice. Tohru, that girl that i just told you about, told me that his name is Kyo and that he is usually in a bad mood. It already seems as if he doesn't like me. Sometime towards the end of the year you will have to come and visit me and see what my life here has been like! Oh dear sister please say you'll do that!)

'**Oh Anna di corso. Non lo mancherei per il mondo! Lasciamo la speranza giusta che quel padre consentirà esso. Sono Anna cosí spiacente, ma devo andare. La madre chiama. penso che abbia bisogno dell'aiuto pulendo la cena. Dunque le parlerò dopo! Anna di buonanotte! E dice per favore Tohru ciao per me!' **(Translation: Oh course Anna. I wouldn't miss it for the world! Let's just hope that father will allow it. I'm so sorry Anna, but I've got to go. Mother is calling. i think she needs help cleaning up dinner. So I'll talk to you later! Goodnight Anna! And please tell Tohru hello for me!)

'**Bene mio caro. Le parlerò dopo. La buonanotte per lei, è tuttavia la mattina qui in Giappone. Arrivederci mia sorella cara. Dare tutti il mio amore sostiene la casa.** **Dirò indubbiamente lei!'** (Translation: Alright my dear. I will talk to you later. Goodnight for you, it's still morning here in Japan. Goodbye my dear sister. Give my love to everyone back home. I will definitely tell her!)

And with that she shut her laptop and made her way down the stairs with a smile on her face. She entered the kitchen to find Tohru setting a plate with eggs and toast onto the table.

"I figured you'd be down soon when I was upstairs and I heard you walk to your room. So I went ahead and made you something to eat. I hope its ok" Tohru said shyly.

"Oh no. This is perfect! Thank you so much for making me breakfast! I truly appreciate it!" She sat down and began to eat thankful to finally have something being put into her growling stomach. As an afterthought Annika looked up at Tohru, "Oh and my little sister Isabella asked me to tell you hello for her"

Tohru's face lit up with excitement and she giggled excitedly, "Oh did she! Oh that is so exciting. Please tell her that I say Hello back. When did you talk to her?"

"I just got done e-mailing her. Mamma wanted her to help clean up dinner so she had to leave, but it was nice to get to talk to her" Annika replied, "Do you think that it might be such a bad thing if she came to visit towards the end of my stay here? I would like her to see the world that I've been living in"

"I'm sure that Shigure wouldn't mind! That would be exciting for your sister to come and visit."

'Yes that would be fun,' Annika thought to herself as she ate her breakfast.

Then a man with black hair came into the room, he looked at the two girls in the kitchen and smiled.

"My dear, you much be Annika!"

Annika looked at him and smiled, "Yes that would be me"

The man bowed, "You can call me Shigure. It is a pleasure for you to be in my house" Annika stood up and bowed in return.

"No the honor is mine sir. I couldn't have be able to do this without your hospitality" Annika stated before sitting back down to her breakfast with her attention still on Shigure.

"Well then we will share the honor. Anyways, Yuki told me a lot about you. He told me that you can speak Italian"

Annika laughed, "Yes I can. I can speak it fluently" Annika thought for a second then thought of something quick to say, "Mio padre è venuto da Italia e ho speso il primo cinque anni della mia vita crescendo in Italia, which means, My father came from Italy and I spent the first five years of my life growing up in Italy."

Annika laughed again at the look the two of them had on their face, one of awe and amusement. At that moment Kyo came into the room. He went to the fridge and took out the milk, he glanced at Annika before walking over to the cupboard and taking out a glass and pouring milk into the glass. A smirk tugged at her lips as she watched him, remembering their small conversation earlier this morning.

'He really is a handsome guy' Annika thought making her blush pink. Quickly she finished her breakfast, putting her plate in the sink and with one more look at Kyo she went outside and sat looking at the pond before her.

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So thank you very much for reading this! Please give me feed back. I know I'll need it. I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can. And again… Lemons in later chapters.


	2. Lost and Found

Sorry it took me so long to get this up. I was on vacation and there wasn't a comp anywhere near me. so sorry!

And again I do not own any of the Fruits Basket characters. But I do own the other ones.

The characters might be OOC but I'm trying not to make them that way. So forgive me if they are.

And please leave feedback.

Thanks!

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Open My Heart: Lost and Found

Exactly a month had passed since her arrival at the Sohma house, and Annika was having the time of her life, although she was always a little grumpy in the mornings when she STILL could not find the Fruit Loops she desperately wanted. Tohru and Annika had become fast friends. And in effect Annika became good friends with Uotani and Hanajima. Towards the end of the month it had become a habit for the two other girls to come over and hang out in either Tohru's room or Annika's room and do homework and then just have girl time.  
Annika had kept in contact with her younger sister Isabella and relayed messages between Torhu and her sister. And to her dismay, Annika's crush on the orange haired male had grown. There were also those times when she noticed something was weird about the Sohma men. They avoided all physical contact with the opposite sex. And when she confronted either them or Tohru they just shook their head and told her not to worry about it. Although with them saying that did make her worry, something wasn't right and she knew it.  
It wasn't until early Saturday morning that the big secret came out.  
Annika had come home from her usual morning run and she was in the shower. She was just about to shut the shower off when she realized that she had forgotten to bring her towel with her. Blushing from embarrassment, Annika peeked her head outside the door. Her bedroom door was just down the hall and around the corner, could she risk running to her bedroom in the nude?  
'I don't think I can do that' Annika thought, 'Just my luck I'd fall and everyone would come running just to find a very interesting surprise… but I'm not going to stand here all day or wait till someone comes along… who knows how long that will be' With a sigh Annika made her decision.  
Taking a deep breathe, Annika opened the door and ran to her bedroom. As she turned the corner she ran into a hard muscular chest making her fall backwards.  
"Ah!" Annika screamed and tried covering herself.  
"WHAT THE-" POOF  
Annika looked at the poof of smoke. And when it cleared she sat an orange cat standing with his hackles on end looking at her. She could have sworn it was Kyo that she had just bumped into, now there was a cat where he was standing.  
'What the hell?!?!' her mind screamed. She heard running footsteps and quickly ran to her room shutting the door and backing up against it. 'How could I have kidded myself into thinking that something like that wasn't going to happen!! STUPID!' And then she heard raised voices from just outside her door.  
"What did you do!" it was Yuki.  
"I DIDN'T DO A DAMN THING! YOU DAMN RAT!" That was definitely Kyo's voice.  
"What do you mean by that? I heard screaming! What happened baka neko!"  
"The hell with that! That damn exchange student was running around naked! She ran around the corner and bumped into me! It's not my damn fault!" Kyo yelled. Then there was silence. Shame began to fill Annika to her very core. So he had seen her. Annika curled up into a ball and just sat there as anger towards herself grew. Then there was a soft knock and a female voice called through softly.  
"Annika?" it was Tohru.  
"Go away." Annika said bitterly.  
"Annika please let me in" Came Tohru's reply. With a sigh Annika quickly pulled a pair of boxers and a shirt on and slowly opened the door. Tohru looked at her tear stained face, came inside then shut the door and locked it so no one could come in.  
"Tohru I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to… I just… I forgot a towel… and I thought that I could make it without being seen… and then I turned the corner… and… and" She looked at Tohru and stopped trying to explain. Annika sat on her bed heavily not knowing what to do.  
Tohru sat next to her and put an arm around her, "its ok… no one was hurt." Annika looked at her.  
"What happened Tohru? I KNOW I saw Kyo. And then the next thing I know there was a cat with his hair color standing where he was standing" Tohru sighed. She had hoped that something like this wouldn't have happened so that they wouldn't have to deal with explaining about the Sohma curse. But what was done was done. So Tohru spent the next half hour telling Annika about the secret and explaining that's why they never got close to the opposite sex with a passion. Towards the end of their conversation Annika became embarrassed once again it once again came to mind that Kyo had seen her naked. Tohru saw her pink face and put a hand on her shoulder.  
"Don't worry. I doubt he'll thinking about it too much. It is only Kyo"  
Without even thinking Annika blurted out, "Yeah maybe to you, but your not the one who likes Kyo" As soon as that statement had come out of her mouth Annika slapped her hand to her mouth and mentally shot herself over and over again. 'How could I have just said that out loud!' Annika thought. Tohru looked at her surprised. Now that wasn't something that Tohru heard everyday. But she smiled as she had remembered her days of liking Kyo. Without a word Tohru stood up and walked out of the room. Annika spent the rest of the day in her not even coming out of her room to eat dinner. She did come out once to take a phone call from one of the girls from school asking about homework. When she went back upstairs to she passed Yuki who just gave her a smile before she disappeared up the stairs.  
Meanwhile Kyo was at the dojo working out trying to get his thoughts under control. 'You shouldn't be thinking like that. It's going to get you into trouble if you do. And you know it.' As he ran it over and over in his mind he thought about what he saw, 'You perv Kyo! Although you can't not say that she is very good looking. But… what was that on her side?' Kyo pushed it out of his mind for the time being as he continued to bash himself until he tired himself out enough to where he stopped thinking about everything else and thought about how he wanted to go to bed. As he entered his room he lay down on his bed and feel asleep. Images of Annika naked kept invading his dreams. Maybe there was something to this exchanged student that he had spent a lot of time avoiding.  
The next morning Annika finally came out of her room to face the world. And plus she had to go on her morning run. As she ran she thought about yesterday's events as well as what Tohru had told her about the family curse. So it wasn't just some random family tradition, well… so to speak. But it all made sense, the guys not liking big crowds, and Kyo and Yuki running away from the fan girls. Why hadn't she seen it before? It was something that she would never understand. When Annika arrived at the park, which had become the spot where she was sit and look at the people surrounding her and also to get her mind about her, she sat on the swings a bit longer than she usually did.  
While she sat on the swing a little girl about the age of five or six came up to her with a tear stained face. Annika looked at her worriedly.  
"Hey, what's the matter sweetie?" Annika asked the girl.  
"I want my mommy" The little girl cried.  
Annika got up from the swing and held out her hand to the little girl, "Ok, then lets go find your mother shall we?" The little nodded and took her hand, "What's your name sweetie?" Annika asked her.  
"A… Akari" The little girl stammered out. Her big brown eyes looked up at Annika with such hope that it almost broke Annika's heart.  
"That is such a beautiful name Akari. How old are you Akari?"  
"Five years old Miss" the girl replied.  
"Oh please call me Nika Akari. That's what my little brothers call me" This got the girl's attention as she looked up at Annika curiously, "Yeah, I have twin brothers that are also five years old. They like to call me Nika. So would you do that for me Akari?"  
"Yes Nika!" The little girl giggled as she said the nice lady's name. Akari tightened her grip on Annika's hand and looked around.  
The two of them spent about another hour looking for Akari's mother. With a sigh Annika sat down again on the swings, "Akari, I don't know where your mother could be. And I don't know about you but I'm getting hungry. Are you hungry?" Akari nodded her head.  
"Nika… I want mommy!" Tears burst from her eyes once more; Annika wrapped the sobbing form in her arms and held the child.  
"Well… how about we walk back to my house and we can get something to eat then we can come back and search some more. And if we can't find her we can go to the police and I'm sure the nice men there will help us find your mother. Does that sound like a good plan?" The little girl nodded.  
So Annika walked all the way back to the Sohma house with Akari on her back. A small lump of homesickness caught in Annika's throat as she remember giving her little brother's piggy back rides all around their house and to the store when they would come with her. But determination soon filled her being as she thought about the girl she carried on her back. Annika became even more determined to find this girl's mother. When she arrived home Akari was fast asleep on Annika's back.  
She entered the house silently; as she walked towards the stairs she heard footsteps behind her.  
"What the hell?!" Annika turned around to find Kyo looking at her and the sleeping form on her back.  
"Her name is Akari. She came up to be at the park saying that she couldn't find her mother. Now lower your voice or you're going to wake her!" Kyo opened his mouth to say something but closed it when Annika gave him her trademark glare that only her friends and family back home had seen. Kyo felt something move within him when she gave him that look. Something about that look made him stop. It surprised him; no one had ever given him such a look. But before he could figure it out Annika had turned around and walked upstairs.  
Without waking her up Annika placed the girl on her bed and went downstairs to make something quick for them both to eat then brought it up on a tray ready for the girl to eat whenever she woke up.  
It wasn't long though before she began to stir. With sleepy eyes Akari sat up and looked around her and found Annika sitting at her laptop typing away before sitting back and starring at the screen. Akari got out of bed and walked over to Annika.  
"Nika? Where are me?" Akari asked a little bit confused.  
"This is my house. Remember? We came back to my house to have something to eat. And then we can go out to look for your mother again if you would like. If you don't we can just call the police man and he'll help us. Your food is over there if you would like to eat something" Akari walked over to the bedside table and began to eat what was on the plate. When she was done she went back over to Annika who was again talking to Isabella.  
"Who are you talking to?" Akari asked.  
"I'm talking to my sister" Annika replied.  
"How many sisters to you have?"  
"I have two younger sisters and three younger brothers. Right now I'm talking to my sister Isabella who is 13. She lives over the America" Annika sent one last final message before shutting her laptop, "Now… let's go take our dishes downstairs and we can go back to the park to see if your mother is there." They took down there dishes to the kitchen. As they were putting their dishes in the sink Kyo came in. Akari saw him and hid behind Annika.  
Annika laughed, "Don't be scared. That is just Kyo. He won't hurt you, why don't you say hi to him?" Kyo just glared at Annika. Akari shook her head and buried her head in Annika's thigh. Annika chuckled and picked the child up, "Come on, lets go say Hi to Kyo" They walked so that they stood in front of him. "Come on Kyo-kun, say hello. Kyo, this is Akari, Akari this is Kyo"  
Kyo looked at the little girl and then at Annika. Annika had that look on her face, suddenly Kyo heard himself say, "Hey"  
Akari looked at Kyo, "Hello" Akari said with a shy smile before burying her face in Annika's shoulder.  
Annika looked at Kyo thoughtfully and before she knew it she asked, "Would you like to come with us Kyo-kun to look for Akari's mother?"  
Kyo looked stunned that she would even ask. He was going to say "Hell no" but what came out of his mouth was not what he at though, "Why not?" A broad smile flashed across Annika's face as she felt her heart flutter just a slight bit. But in Kyo's mind he felt betrayed by his own mind and body. Why had he said yes? He didn't want to go help them find some girl who was stupid enough to get herself lost. He didn't want to spend anytime with this exchange student. 'Or do you?' Kyo found himself thinking as they made their way towards the park. It was seven in the evening before the three of them gave up looking for the girl's mother.  
With a sigh, Annika looked down at the girl, "Akari I don't think we're going to be able to find your mother tonight. It's starting to get late. So let's hurry and go to the nice police man and ask him to help us" Annika silently thanked herself for asking Kyo to come with them, because she didn't know where the police station was. But within a couple minutes they had arrived at the station. They talked to an officer who took their information and promised to get a hold of them as soon as possible before they returned home.  
The girl was fast asleep on Annika's back when they were halfway back to the house, Annika looked over at Kyo who was looking straight ahead. So many thoughts were running through her head at that very moment. It took her a minute to sort them all out.  
"Thank you Kyo" She finally said. Kyo looked at her as if she had done the most outrageous thing possible.  
"For what?" Kyo replied, surprisingly calm.  
"For coming with me and Akari to come find her mother. I think it meant a lot to Akari… I know it meant a lot to me." She looked at Kyo again to find him looking at her with a strange look. "Why are you looking at my like that?"  
"You are just one hella strange girl. You know that?" Kyo looked away, not knowing what else to say. There was something strange about this girl that kept amazing him. He couldn't put his finger on it and he wasn't sure that he wanted to. But when ever he was with her, he didn't feel the need to be angry or yell all the time. There was something about her that made him want to do what ever she wanted, whether he wanted to admit it to himself or not. Mostly not, just because he was Kyo.  
She looked down not knowing whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. So she just kept quiet. The rest of the walk home was in silence, neither one of them speaking. But every once in a while they exchanged a quick glance. When they arrived back at the Sohma house Yuki was waiting for them.  
"If I may ask, where have you two been?" Yuki looked from Kyo to Annika to Akari.  
"The hell with you" Kyo spat back.  
Annika sighed, "We went to look for Akari's mother. I found her earlier today when I was on my morning run. And so we came back here for lunch and then we went back out and I asked Kyo to come along. Now if you two don't mind, I'm going to put this little girl to bed" With that Annika walked up the stairs and into her room. Tohru soon came into her room. She repeated the story to Tohru as her and Tohru replaced that girl's clothing with one of Annika's smallest t-shirt which still came down to the little girl's knees.  
Annika sat on the bed with Akari's head in her lap as she softly ran her fingers through the girl's soft hair. "Ya know Tohru; this reminds me so much of my little sister Izzy. She would always come into my room and fall asleep on my lap when she was 5 years old. I was only 9 when she did it, but still… I had always acted older than I was. Akari is just like my sister. She even has the same big eyes as Izzy although Izzy has hazel eyes instead of brown."  
Tohru smiled as Annika spoke silently wishing that she had a family like Annika's, even though Annika always spoke of her sister Izzy and never spoke of her other sibling or even her parents. She had been looking at Akari when Annika stopped talking. Tohru looked up to find Annika frowning.  
"What is it?" Tohru asked.  
"Tohru? I don't know what to make of Kyo. I thought that he didn't listen to anyone, but why has he been listening to me?" she felt shy asking but she couldn't get it off her mind. Tohru thought about it for a minute or two before answering carefully.  
"Well… if I didn't know better… it'd be because he likes you. I have noticed that he doesn't seem to yell as much when you are around." Tohru didn't really know what to say though, because she had found out herself that Kyo was a very unpredictable person. Nothing seemed to surprise her anymore when it came to Kyo. "Are you going to tell him?"  
Annika looked at her eyes wide with shock, "NO! Of course not! Kyo wouldn't like me. He would just shout in my face and get mad" Annika laughed softly as she thought about what his face would look like if she told him.  
Tohru sighed, "You should tell him. Because you never know… he might like you back. Now, he might reject you at first. Kyo is very proud. And he isn't use to people liking him for him, because he is the cat. So your right, he would shout at you and tell you you're crazy, but I bet you anything that he would come back and tell you he likes you. I've never seen Kyo-kun act like that so often." She smiled at Annika before getting up, "Well… I'm going to go to bed. Please think about what I said. And if you don't tell him soon, at least make sure you tell him with in the next couple months if you can. Good night Annika. Sweet dreams"  
"Good night Tohru, thank you for... well you know." Tohru smiled at her before shutting the door and walking to her own bedroom. Tohru felt that the next couple months could become very interesting, and she was excited to see how things played out. But she had a feeling that Annika needed to let go of some things before everything got resolve, call it intuition if you will.  
Annika woke to find her bed empty except for herself. Panic spread through her body like a wild fire. She ran through the hall and headed down the stairs not even realizing that she was speaking in Italian, "No! L'ho persa! Dove l'è! L'Akari dove la sono!!! oh mio perbacco oh mio perbacco non posso credere che l'abbia persa! non questo è buono! Non BUONO!" (1)  
She looked through the living room, then the kitchen and every room in the house. The more she looked the more frantic she had become, as one point she opened the door to the backyard and found Akari playing with Tohru and Kyo. Akari looked at the door and squealed when she saw Annika. She ran to Annika, who had fallen to her knees and was holding her tight.  
"È sicura, i cieli di Ringraziamento è sicura!"(2) Annika muttered to herself and she closed her eyes, slowly calming the panic that had consumed her. Tohru walked over to them looking a little worried.  
"Annika are you ok?" she asked.  
Annika laughed awkwardly and looked at her friend, "Yeah I'm ok now. I woke up this morning and I couldn't find Akari." Annika quickly picked Akari up and walked to the grass before spinning around with Akari in her arms. Akari squealed with laugher at being twirled. Kyo stood back looking at the two girls spinning and let himself have a very small smile. Annika finally put the girl down feeling really dizzy, Akari pounced on Annika and began to tickle.  
Screaming, Annika tried to get away as Akari attacked her sides with her relentless torturing.  
"Ahahaha Help me!!!" Annika screamed as she kept trying to get away. Tohru laughed as she watched the scene before them. "A-Akari! P-Please! S-S-Stop, I can't- I can't b-breathe" And literally her face was beginning to turn blue. Akari giggled as Annika struggled on the ground. The older girl tried to roll the girl off but she always seemed to stay where she was no matter how much she squirmed and tried to get her off. Kyo saw her face with was turning dark blue.  
"Kid, why don't you let Annika take a brake?" Kyo walked over to them and cautiously plucked the small girl off of Annika. Akari pouted as Kyo set her down next to Tohru. Then he walked over to the panting Annika, "You ok?"  
Annika looked up at her rescuer and smiled as she felt color come back to her cheeks, "Yeah I'm all good. Thank you" Annika held out her hand which Kyo took and helped her on her feet. Then Annika looked at Akari with an evil smirk. When Akari saw this her eyes grew big as saucers and screamed and ran for the house. With a quick glance towards Kyo and she was running after the offending girl.  
The week passed and they still hadn't found Akari's mother. Kyo and Annika brought Akari to the park everyday. When they weren't searching Akari became more of the family especially to Annika. None of the other residence could find Annika without Akari. It was at the end of the week that they got a phone call. The four of them were watching the American Disney movie Robin Hood which Annika had brought with her from home when the phone rang, soon after Yuki walked into the room.  
"Miss. Annika, the police officer is on the phone" He said before walking out of the room. Annika walked out of the room and to the phone. A minute later Annika came back into the room with a smile on her face. "So that was the police. They found your mother Akari. She'll be coming to pick you up tonight" Annika smiled as Akari's face lit up and she ran into Annika's arms.  
"Yay! I see mommy!" The excitement in her voice replaced Annika's increasing sadness from her heart and mind, "Nika-chan?" Akari pulled away just enough to look into the older girl's eyes, "I come visit you right?"  
"Of course sweetie, you can come back and visit any time that you want to" Akari smiled at the girl she had come to love as a sister in the past week. Then she let go of Annika and ran over to Tohru. Tohru gave the girl a hug, a smile on her face. When Torhu let go of Akari, Akari turned to Kyo who was looking at Annika but then turned his attention to Akari. Kyo's eyes widened when Akari started coming over to him.  
"Oh no. No no. No one hugs me" He held out his hands to hopefully stop her from coming any further. Akari looked at her hands before hugging his hand. Kyo looked at her surprised. He then looked at Annika not knowing what to do with the child. Annika just shrugged, she then came over and sat so that she was leaning against the couch that Kyo was sitting on. Akari let go of Kyo's arm and climbed into Akari's lap. Then they all finished watching the movie that they had begun.  
They had just finished dinner when they heard a knock on the front door. Shigure got up and walked to the door, when he came back he was leading a tall woman with long blonde hair.  
"Everyone this is Mrs. Shimizu" Shigure announced.  
"OKAA-CHAN!!!!!" squealed Akari. She stood up and ran into the arms of her crying mother. The reunion was both heart-warming and heart-breaking all at the same time. The girl and her mother held each other for a long time before they let go. When they did Akari ran over to Annika and hugged her. "Okaa-chan here Nika-chan"  
Annika smiled and nodded, "Yeah. Yeah she is. Are you ready to go home with your mother?" The little girl nodded her head, so Annika stood up and walked Akari back over to her mother. Mrs. Shimizu watched with teary eyes.  
"Thank you young woman. I am forever in your debt for finding and caring for my daughter." Mrs. Shimizu said.  
Annika laughed, "Oh please it was nothing at all. It reminded me of home. I hope you don't mind but I told Akari that she could stop by when ever she wanted"  
"Oh that's fine. It's the least can do" Mrs. Shimizu looked at her daughter, "Alright sweetie. How about we head out? Daddy misses you" The girl gasped at the mention of her father.  
"Daddy home!" With that Akari took her mother's hand and the two of them walked out of the door. Annika, Tohru and the rest of the Sohmas' walked out to wave them farewell. Akari turned in her seat and waved out the window of the retreating care, watching the standing figures get smaller and smaller.  
Later that night Kyo walked out of his room and headed out to go it on the roof. When he got up there he stopped cold. Annika lay on her back with her eyes closed but she was awake. Silently Kyo climbed the rest of the way before standing near her looking at her face. Her cheeks were shinning with her tears, and in the moon light he could see that her eyes were a bit puffy. So that she wouldn't catch him staring at her, Kyo cleared his throat. Annika jumped a foot of the ground when he announced his presence. She quickly wiped her face hoping that Kyo wouldn't notice how wet her face had been. Of course he had noticed, but he decided not to say anything about it, if she wanted to tell him why she was crying then he would listen. Silently he sat down next to her but she started to get up  
"I'm sorry, Tohru told me that this was your spot. I shouldn't have intruded. I'll leave." Annika's voice was strained as she said this.  
Kyo looked at her, "No please. Don't go. I don't mind you being here" His mind froze when he found himself giving her a small smile. 'Don't smile you idiot! You never smile!' He yelled at himself mentally. But it seemed to work, Annika sat back down beside him wrapping her arms around her knees. They sat down in silence for what seemed like forever. But each of their minds were in different places. Eventually Annika lay back down and continued looking up at the stars.  
'What should I say?' one side of Kyo's brain asked,  
Then the other side came into play, '_What is the matter with you? You use to be this bad ass guy, now you're just some pain in the ass softy. This really can't be good for your reputation_.'  
'I am NOT a softy!'  
'_Oh yes you are fur ball. Look at yourself! Your oogling over this damn exchange student that you've known for a month!! You won't beat Yuki like this.'  
_'Who says that I won't? Ok yeah she's beautiful…. But… she looks so sad right now. What can I say?'  
'_You don't need to ask her anything! Stop thinking about her! She isn't worth your time especially if you are going to beat that damn rat! Now GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME!'  
_With determination Kyo made up his mind, "Are you ok?" Annika looked over at him curiously before going back to stargazing.  
"Yeah why do you ask?"  
"Because you were crying." Kyo stated although he still didn't understand why he even cared.  
With a sigh of defeat Annika gave in, "Yeah, well… I was kind of hoping that you wouldn't have noticed. I guess there was a small part of me that wished that we would never have found her mother."  
Kyo looked at her in surprise, "Why?"  
"Well… just because she reminded me of my sister Izzy and my two younger brothers Aidan and Damean. It was like having them here with me, yeah I know it's real selfish of me to think like that, but I just can't help it" her eyes looked up at the stars as if she were hoping that they would carry her away.  
Kyo nodded although he didn't fully understand. He had never lived in a place where he had brothers and sisters. He just sat there and waited. Annika thought about her whole time being there so far and she couldn't help but become home sick, she closed her eyes hoping to keep her flaring emotions at bay.  
"Kyo…"  
Kyo looked at her curiously, "Yeah?"  
"… I wish my younger siblings were here. It's going to be the first time that I've spent a birthday away from my family" A single tear escaped from behind her closed eyes. Kyo's face turned from one of curiosity, to pure surprise. Annika had never told anyone about her birthday. He was rather surprised that she hadn't said anything about it until that moment.  
Annika wiped her face and stood up, "I'm sorry, you must think I'm stupid for being so emotional. Actually I'm rather embarrassed. I must be pmsing or something. Again I'm sorry" With that she walked over to the ladder and climbed down.

☼☼

Translation:  
_(1)No! I lost her! Where is she! Akari where are you!!! oh my gosh oh my gosh I can't believe that I lost her! this isn't good! NOT GOOD!  
(2)She's safe, Thank heavens she's safe!_

Thank you again for reading. Comments and reviews are much welcomed.

The next chapter will be kinda short. Cause it's not that big of an event.


	3. Birthday Surprises

I don't need to say that I don't own fruits basket characters but I do own the other ones. So that is the last time I'm going to tell you that.

☼☼

Open My Heart: Birthday Surprises

Annika rushed into her room, mad at herself at her lack of emotional composer. She couldn't believe that she couldn't control them like usual. She wished that she hadn't said anything about her birthday. Annika had just planned on going shopping and buying herself a birthday gift. It's not like she ever got much of a birthday at home anyways, sure her father was a wealthy man, but both her parents were never really there. She was in charge of caring for her younger siblings. So she never really got a birthday. But she always made the best of it and they had always been happy birthdays. Especially when she and Izzy had come up with random things to celebrate her birthdays.  
Sighing, Annika changed into her pj's before climbing into bed, and snuggling up against her big fluffy pillow and falling asleep.  
Kyo spent another thirty minutes on the roof, he didn't think he should have gone after her when she left, so instead he was thinking about her birthday.  
'Should I do something?' was the thought that kept running through his mind. After a while he decided to get some real help. Kyo climbed down and went in search of Tohru Honda. He found her in the kitchen getting some things read to cook for tomorrow's dinner. His cheeks were red from asking someone for help even though it was against his better judgment.  
Kyo cleared his throat, "um… Tohru?" Tohru turned around and looked at Kyo.  
"Oh Kyo-kun! Is there something I can get for you?"  
"um…" Kyo looked around just to make sure no one was around to see him asking someone for help for once in his life, "Tohru… I need help" His face blazed an unnatural red.  
Tohru smiled happily, "What do you need help with?"  
"I… I… Well… don't tell her I told you, but tomorrow is Annika's birthday… and I thought… I thought I would do something for her. But I don't know what to do for her. So I thought… that you might know what to do" Kyo looked around as if he might be caught with a bomb in the house.  
Tohru remained silent for a while thinking about his request. She thought of multiple things that he could do, but most of them were things that might be considered too personal. But it was obvious that Kyo liked her or else he wouldn't have even bothered to think about doing something.  
"I know of something that you could do. I'd have to get up REALLY early if I didn't go tonight so that I could go fetch it but I wouldn't mind that, and… why don't you serve her breakfast in bed? That would be really nice; I know she would like it. Were you thinking about getting her a gift?" All Kyo could do was nod his head. Tohru giggled, "Well… I'm sure that she would like that! Well…. Why don't we just go shopping real quickly? I know of a shop that I'm sure you can find something that you would like to get her. Come!" She walked out to the stair case and yelled up the stairs, "I'm going shopping and I'm bringing Kyo with me! So don't stay up late!" With that Tohru and Kyo went out to shop. It was till only 8 but it was already dark outside. When they came home it was close to 9:30 with two bags, one with food, and the other with the gifts that Kyo himself had picked out.  
They spent the next half hour to an hour wrapping the gifts and discussing how things were going to flow.  
Sun filtered through the window, once again waking Annika from her sleep. She rolled from side to side trying to reclaim sleep, but finally deciding to get up. Her hair was in disarray when she finally sat up and her eyes were still the color of a deep emerald green from her crying the night before. The clock on the wall stated 9 am.  
When she looked around she found a bowl sitting on her bedside table. Fruit Loops float in milk gracefully inside the bowl. A smile spilled across her face, she picked up the spoon next to the bowl and started to eat out of it. The sweet fragrance of her Fruit Loops made her giddy with excitement. 'This day could have its ups to it' she thought happily. Annika savored every bite of her Fruit Loops until every last bite was eaten. Annika got up from her bed and started heading towards the door when she saw three boxes set on her the top of her desk.  
Annika set the bowl back down and walked over to the beautifully wrapped boxes. First she opened the smallest of the boxes; once it was open there inside laid another box. But this one was more extravagant. It was black, with a silver butterfly fluttering above a gold and silver hand fan accented by a colorful floral motif. The inside of it was lined in red felt with a mirror on the inside top lid. Also a small tune started to play, it was soothing to the ears and made her smile, she also found a pair of Shou Porcelain Earrings inside. Then she moved on to the second box, which was longer, and skinner then the other. When she opened it she found a fan, as she opened it she discovered it was full of blues, whites, greens, pinks, and purples. Pink and white cherry blossoms flowing across the scene. Quickly Annika opened the largest of the three boxes to be literally out of breath. Inside was a silk blue Yukata with white cherry blossoms and folding fans gracefully splashed out across the fabric. Underneath the Yukata was a note, it took Annika a moment to decipher what was being said but at last she understood.

Dear Annika,

Last night you told me that today would be your birthday. So… I thought that I would try and help to make this day an enjoyment instead of a dreary one. I even found your 'Fruit Loops'. But I ask just one thing, don't tell anyone! At least… not now. Especially that damn rat!

Kyo

Annika could have shouted for joy. This day just couldn't get any better! She picked up her bowl and practically skipped down the stairs. Upon entering the kitchen she found Tohru, Kyo and Yuki standing in the kitchen. Remembering what Kyo said she didn't say anything making a mental note to find him later on and thank you generously for the lovely gifts that she would now cherish for all time. But there was no hiding the bounce in her step. She set her bowl in the sink, and then bounced upstairs. Yuki looked at the other two curiously.  
"Is there something that Miss. Annika knows that we should know?"  
"The hell with you" Kyo yelled before walking out of the room.  
Tohru just laughed and shook her head, "No I'm sure everything is fine. Don't worry about it"  
Annika took a quick shower, and then went back to her room to admire Kyo's presents to her. After a while soft knock was heard at the door.  
"Come in Tohru-kun!" Next moment Tohru walked into the room with a big smile on her face, "Oh hi Tohru!!!"  
"Happy birthday! I know I wasn't supposed to know, but Kyo needed a bit of help. He didn't know what to get you or do for you so he asked me. I hope you don't mind!" Worry covered her face as she looked at her friend. But a very happy Annika was the only thing she got.  
"Oh I don't mind at all! It was very sweet of you to help him out! Thank you!" Annika picked up the jewelry box and opened it and sighed when its lovely melody began to play. "This is such a lovely tune"  
Tohru giggled, "Yeah it is, the song is called 'Sukiyaki Song' by Duo En. Kyo picked out all of this stuff by himself. I just showed him where the shop was and where to get the Fruit Loops. I also gave him the idea to 'give' you breakfast in bed. But other than those couple things, everything was him. Just thought you should know that. And I'm glad that you liked it. Oh and here is something from me. I didn't know if you'd need it, but it might come in handy one day." Then Tohru took out a journal with silk binding and colorful dragonflies covering the cover. It was absolutely beautiful.  
"Thank you!" Annika said breathlessly. Tohru giggled. Then the two girls talked for an hour to two. After that Annika went for her usual run. When she came back she took another shower then went outside. The afternoon sun spilled across the leaves and she was just about to sit down to enjoy when she heard shouting coming her way.  
"I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU DAMN RAT!"  
"You can try neko"  
Annika sighed; the two were at it again. Couldn't they be quiet at civil for one day? The fighting spread out onto the yard so she sat down by a tree near the forest and watched. They kicked and shouted and punched and yelled some more. None on them even noticed that she was sitting there watching the whole scene. Kyo kept saying that he was going to beat Yuki and Yuki just stared at him with venom 'dripping' out of his eyes towards Kyo.  
After a while Annika got a bit bored so she stood up and took two steps before a large mass made contact with her stomach making her and the mass fly into the forest. Next she knew she crashed into another tree. POOF, smoke was everywhere. But Annika didn't really care all she could do was try and breathe. She fell to her knees gasping for air and tears streaming down her face from not being able to breathe.  
'Damn why the did THAT have to happen, scratches I can hand… getting the window knocked out… no. I can't do that.' She didn't even notice the orange cat licking her arm.  
"Damn it! I'm SO sorry! I should get help!" He started to turn around to head back to the house, but Annika had grabbed his tail lightly, Kyo turned around to look at her. Annika tried to smile at him  
She even tried to talk through it, "Wind (gasp) knocked (gasp) out" and she pointed to herself and gave thumbs up to show that she was ok. Kyo walked back over and rubbed up against her like cats showing her that he was sorry. It took a couple minutes before she could get her breath back and by that time Yuki and Torhu had found them. When she was able to breathe again she sat up with a smile and looked at Kyo who had turned back into a human, his face was livid but he didn't say anything.  
"Well… that was interesting!" Annika laughed as she stood up. She began to tilt a little bit, being a little dizzy from the lack of oxygen, but she felt Kyo's hand on her arm to steady her. "Ah… thank you!" She said.  
Tohru looked at everyone, "Well… she's not hurt, so let's go and have tea. Yes I think that's a good idea" She turned and led the way back to the house.  
Later that night Annika was sitting on the couch watching TV when she heard the phone ring, but she let someone else get it. A couple minutes later Shigure came into the room.  
"Annika, the phone is for you" Annika stood up and went to answer the phone cordless phone in the kitchen, Kyo, Yuki, and Tohru were also in the kitchen. Annika picked up the phone.  
"Hello?"  
"Anna!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" A young girl's voice called.  
"OH MY GOSH! IZZY!!!!!!!!!!!!" Annika jumped up and down and squealed, her mind totally forgetting that there are others in the room. "I'm so glad to hear from you! But isn't it like… REALLY late over there?"  
"Yeah it's actually rather early, but I wanted to make sure that you at least heard from me before you go to bed. I figured that you'd have things to do earlier today so I decided to call later"  
"I'm glad that you did call!" Annika was so excited that she didn't even notice when she switched over to her native language, "non ho pensato che lei farebbe!"(1)  
Izzy laughed, "Oh course I would call! Silly! So real quickly, how if Tohru, Yuki, Kyo and that other man that you told me about?"  
Annika giggled, which everyone turned to look at her, they had never heard to her giggle before, laugh yes giggle no, "Il Tohru fa grande! Ha sempre un sorriso sulla sua faccia. Il Yuki è tranquillo ma molto amichevole... Lo Shigure è come pervertita mai. E... Il Kyo... bene è grande. Oh Izzy! Il Kyo me ha dato il presente di compleanno più meraviglioso mai!" (2) Every member looked at her when they heard their names but they didn't say anything.  
"Do tell Anna! Don't leave me hanging," Izzy commented.  
"Il Kyo me ha dato una bella carillon con un paio di suoni di orecchio dentro, poi me ha dato un che il piegando ventilatore che ha dei fiori di ciliegio su esso, e poi migliore di tutto il, me ha dato un respiro portando Yukata che è blu e ha dei fiori di ciliegio e che i piegando ventilatori su loro! Non posso tenere da Izzy sorridente! Il Kyo ha fatto oggi probabilmente uno dei giorni migliori nella mia vita!"(3)Kyo began to just watch her, and inwardly he was amused at hearing his name so many times. He thought it was cute the way that her face was so bright and every now and then a slight blush would creep into her cheeks.  
"That's wonderful! They must be beautiful! Have you worn the Yukata yet?"  
"No ho non ancora. Penso forse domani o qualcosa."(4)  
"Sis?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Does Kyo like you?"  
"Spero cosí. Per io l'ama realmente. So che è soltanto è stato un breve mentre, ma me fa sorride e non posso fermare per pensare di lui. La bontà fa desidero che lei era qui proprio ora. Desidero che lei potrebbe incontrare Kyo. È il kinda rude sull'esterno ed il kinda rude dapprima. Ma una volta lei prende il passato che Kyo è una persona cosí sensibile."(5) Annika had such a love struck smile on her face, Kyo smile but only just the tiniest bit, and he had a feeling that he might know what she was saying. He felt weird thinking that but it was true.  
Izzy laughed, "Anna I've NEVER heard you this love struck! What has this boy done to you?"  
Annika blushed a bright red, and laughed nervously and realized that she had been speaking Italian and decided to go back to English, "I don't know Izzy. We'll see what comes out of it. I might just be being stupid and putting my hopes too high." At this point Kyo was the only one in the room, drinking milk out of a glass while watching Annika across the room.  
"I doubt it. I think he likes you, I mean those gift must have cost a lot of money especially if their as beautiful as you say they are" Annika's face paled to the a snowy white.  
"You don't think…"  
"Yeah I think so Anna. He must have spent a lot of money on you, so I don't think that you're putting your hopes too high."  
Sighing, Annika saw something out of the corner of her eyes. Surprised she turned her head to find herself looking into the deep red eyes of the very guy that she was talking to her sister about. Her face turned an unnatural pale white.  
"La sorella, è nella stanza, penso che sia stato lí il tempo intero."(6) Annika had to pull the phone away from her ear as her sister was laughing so loud. Her face became stern, "Isabella Conte! That isn't funny!"  
"Oh yes it is! But luckily for you, you were speaking in Italian. And unless he can understand Italian he has no clue as to what you said about him. Although he may be curious, you did say his name a few times. Well anyways my dear sister, It's really early and I would like to catch a couple more hours of sleep before school. Didn't you have school today?"  
Annika smiled warmly, "Yes of course. I'm sorry to have kept you this long. We were let off of school today. Which is rather nice now that I think of it!" Annika laughed, but glanced over at Kyo who was still watching her. "Well good night, good morning which ever you would like to say Izzy. Tell Tyson, Aidan, Abri, and Damean that their older sister says hi! Give them my love as well. And" There was a pause as she glanced at Kyo once again, "Tell mother and father if you see them that I say hi as well. Please."  
"Anna…" Izzy paused, "I… ok I'll tell them. But… just so you know, before I go that is, Papa and mother aren't doing so well"  
Annika sighed sadly, "I know, I remember the fight that they had the night before I left. But still tell them I think of them if they aren't in a mood. Ok?"  
"Ok Anna. I will talk to you later. Good night"  
"Goodnight Izzy" With that Annika hung up the phone, she stared at it for a couple seconds thinking about that last but of information. But she recovered quickly.  
Turning around she looked at Kyo, "So… I never got to thank you for the gifts and my Fruit Loops" Kyo just looked at her. "I really do appreciate it, the gifts were beautiful."  
"It was no problem." Kyo stated. Annika smiled at him warmly and walked out of the room and headed upstairs to her bedroom. She changed into her black short boxer shorts, and a green camisole before walking, almost running down the stairs and back into the kitchen. Kyo had just gotten up when she came back in. Annika stopped dead in her tracks, completely awe struck. In his hands was a bowl of Fruit Loops. Kyo smiled and handed her the bowl and spoon. "I had a feeling that you would want it. The box is in the top cupboard by the fridge" And with that he walked out of the room.  
'How did he know that?' She thought to herself, 'That's kinda freaky, nice but freaky' With a smile she walked upstairs with her bowl of Fruit Loops.

Over the next couple months Annika and Kyo and made it a silent habit to spend time at least every other night on the roof together talking about anything and everything. They were like best friends and no one would have known unless they heard it from someone else. Even though they fought just as bad as Kyo did with Yuki, they were also the closest person to either other.

Every morning since her birthday Annika found a bowl of Fruit Loops sitting next to her bed on the night stand. And while she ate her Fruit Loops she would talk to Izzy online. Then when she was done with her breakfast she would say good bye, take her dishes down the kitchen and go on her morning run. Every once in a while Kyo would join her on her run, but then he would complain about how long she ran with never taking a break, then he wouldn't come with her for a few days then he would do it all again. No matter how much one of them complained about the other their feelings for each other were plainly seen through out the house.  
But it wasn't until late in June that something really decided to take place. It was late in the night, the stars were out and Annika and Kyo were sitting on the roof talking about people that they knew. Kyo was talking about Kazuma Sohma when he stopped and looked at Annika who was staring up at the stars. It took Annika a while to realize that Kyo had stopped talking.  
"Why did you stop?"  
Kyo shrugged, "I guess I thought-" Kyo immediately stopped himself, 'Kyo, your going soft. You can't let this girl make you start saying mushy stuff… that's just gross come on man!'  
Annika sat up and looked at him, "You thought what? Come on you can tell me" The look in her eyes made his wall start to break down.  
'No… no Kyo don't let her do this… don't give in' Kyo looked at her, he hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to actually speak the words that neither of them had said, but had wanted to say, "I was just thought that… I was actually thinking…" He began to get frustrated for the lack of words coming into his brain, finally he stood up and nearly shouted, "I like you and I've been wanted to know if you'd be my girlfriend!" 'Great Kyo, you just sounded like a little kid. Great going, now I'm sure she's impressed' Shock numbed his mind. He had never expected to say all that.  
Annika looked up at him also surprised by his confession, but none the less her heart soared. Slowly she got up onto her feet and looked at Kyo, her face her usual calm and kind. She took the few steps between them and took Kyo's hand. She raised his hand to hers and kissed it. "Of course. I would love to be your girlfriend Kyo. I'll more than willingly be that" Annika smiled up into Kyo's still shocked face. Annika couldn't help but laugh, he looked so cute when he couldn't process everything going on. Kyo raised his hand and touched her face, and without even thinking about what would happen, he leaned in a kissed her lips. POOF in Annika's arms lay an orange cat who purred loudly as it snuggled up to her.  
Sitting down the two spent another hour or so looking at the stars in blissful silence. Kyo curled up on Annika's stomach soon fell asleep

☼☼

Translations:

_(1)I didn't think that you would  
(2)__Tohru is doing great! She always has a smile on her face. Yuki is quiet but very friendly... Shigure is perverted as ever. And... Kyo... well he's great. Oh Izzy! Kyo gave me the most wonderful birthday present ever!  
(3)__Kyo gave me a beautiful music box with a pair of ear rings inside, then he gave me a folding fan that has cherry blossoms on it, and then best of all, he gave me a breath taking Yukata that's blue and has cherry blossoms and folding fans on them! I can't keep from smiling Izzy! Kyo made today probably one of the best days in my life!  
(4)__No i haven't yet. I'm thinking maybe tomorrow or something.  
__(5)I hope so. For i really like him. I know it's only been a short while, but he makes me smile and i can't stop thinking about him. Goodness do i wish you were here right now. I wish you could meet Kyo. He's kinda rough on the outside and kinda rude at first. But once you get past that Kyo is such a sensitive person.  
(6)__Sister, he's in the room, i think he's been there the whole time._


	4. Coming TogetherLEMON

Sorry to taking so long to put the 4th chapter up, I've had major writer's block! I'm terribly sorry, but I am glad to say that there is a LEMON in this chapter(please be nice about it!). If you don't like Lemons then you can skip it. Enjoy everyone!

☼☼

Open My Heart: Coming Together

**_Saturday September 9, 2006 _**

Me and Kyo on going to the park later today. I can't wait. We packed the picnic basket last night so we wouldn't have to worry about anything before we go. Well I'll write more later after we go to the park. Later. Annika 

Closing the her journal given to her my Tohru, Annika sat back in her chair going over the past month. Kyo's and her relationship had not only grown but it had sky rocketed! They did everything possible together. Spending time with each other was the most precious thing in the world to them. Now of course it did become frustrating when they truely realized how limited they could be in their relationship regarded being close to one another. But other then that there was no doubt about what was between them. Smiling to herself Annika got up from her chair. She looked at her shelf.  
Even more pictures were displayed on it's shelves. Pictures of her family, and pictures of her and the Sohma family, and even more of pictures of her and Kyo. Annika blushed as she realized how many pictures she had of him and her. 'This is rediculous, i'm beginning to look like a little girl with a crush on a movie star' but a smile laugh forced it's way past her lips. Taking a deep breath she headed over to the door, but before she could open it she heard yelling from down the hall.  
"DAMN RAT!"  
"It would be all your fault"  
'Haha, what happened now' Annika thought to herself as she walked down the hall towards the noise. As she rounded the corner a large mass hit her in the side cause her to smash into the wall. In spite of her sparting side, Annika started laughing. As she gathered the orange cat into her arms she looked at Yuki then at Kyo, "Ya know, you two seem to like making me the target, let's just be thankful that it's not a tree or a pole, or even a moving car this time" She put Kyo down, scratched him behind the ears before walking down stairs and into the kitchen. When in view she saw Tohru putting rice into the rice cooker.  
"Good morning Tohru" Annika said with a bounce in her step.  
"Good morning Annika. Was that you crashing into the wall upstairs?" Tohru looked at her with amusement sparkling in her eyes.  
"Yes ma-am. That would have been me. I swear... I should just never be in the same house as those two when they get into one of their fights. Cause we all know who's going to get hit!" Annika poured herself a glass of iced tea before sitting down at the table. She looked around the room, losing herself in thought.  
"ANNIKA!" Annika looked up just in time to see a blond haired boy flying at her. Screaming, Annika tried to move out of the way, but was too late. The two fell to the floor, POOF, Momiji lay on Annika's chest laughing. "Jee, Your funny when your scream Annika!" A streak of orange ran into the kitchen and tackled the rabbit.  
"Momiji! Stop scaring Annika!" Kyo growled, his hackles standing on end.  
"Oh Kyo! I wasn't scaring Annika! She was just surprised" Momiji looked up at Kyo before moving out from under him. Annika got up from the floor and put her chair back on it's legs. Smiling, she picked Momiji and Kyo up and put them on the table.  
"Now Momiji, if i may ask, why have you come over?" Annika asked.  
"Right, I can over cause i want you, Shigure, Yuki, Tohru, and Kyo to come with me, Aya, and Hitori to the Sohma hot springs! We're leaving this afternoon and we'll be there for an entire week!!! You wanna come! You wanna!!" Annika could help but get all excited at the thought of going to hot springs. Tohru sat down on the other side of the table with clothes in her hands.  
"That would be wounderful Momiji! I'm sure we'll all want to go."  
"YAY!!!" Momiji jumped off the table just as he and Kyo changed back into their human selves. Quickly the girls hurried into the living room so the boys could change in private. When they were done Momiji came skipping out, "I'll be going then so i can tell Hitori that you all will be coming! We'll come pick you guys up at around noon! See you then!" And with that he skipped out of the room.  
Yuki walked down the stairs shaking his head, "Where does that boy get his energy"  
Annika laughed, "He's a boy, all boys have got to be happy and sparky at least once in their life. Besides, it what makes life interesting"

Annika stood downstairs chatting with Tohru as they waited for everyone to gather their things for their trip to the hot springs. Hitori had just driven up when the boys came down stairs with their things, Kyo looked pissed, but of course he always did when they went anywhere with Momiji. The trip to the hot springs was probably Annika's most favorite car ride that she had ever had. Her and Momiji played car games all the way there. It wasn't until they got there that Annika took notice at just how mad Kyo was. When the car stopped at the entrance and everyone got out Annika took hold of Kyo's hand and led him away from everyone else.  
Turning towards him Annika looked deep into his eyes, "What's the matter? Have you had that face on you the whole way over here?" when he didn't answer her she tighted her grip on his hand just a smig. Kyo looked away, muttering that he didn't want to talk about it, he let go of her hand and walking over to the others. Annika stared at his back complete stunned. Kyo had never done that before. She wasn't sure what to do. So she did the only thing she knew, she just followed everyone inside to their rooms, making sure everyone was resttled in.  
Later that night after after dinner Annika went into Kyo's room were he was laying on his bed.  
"Kyo?" She sat on the edge of his bed. "Kyo please, what's the matter?" Kyo sat up, looked at her and put his hand on her cheek.  
"Annika, you have no clue how much i want to kiss you right now" Kyo's eyes filled with anger, "I want to be the one holding you in my arms. I-" Kyo got up and started pacing around his room, "Damn, I want to be able to be near you without worrying about changing into that stupid cat" Then Kyo stormed out of the room leaving Annika to wounder what to do to make his pain go away. She knew what he was talking about, she was also wishing to be near him without worrying about touching him in the wrong spot. With determination, Annika stood up and went to find Tohru. She found Tohru in the outdoors hot spring bathing in silence. Tohru smiled up at her friend and waved her hand, telling her to come and joing her.  
When Annika was finally sitting next to Tohru she finally asked her question. "How do I break the curse Tohru? How do I make Kyo happy?"  
Tohru sat up, her face becoming thoughtful and serious. "I believe that there is only one way, I believe that one who loves Kyo, no matter what the situation no matter what he is can possibly break the curse."  
"Then that must not be all... cause I love Kyo more then anything. I care for every part of him. I don't care that he turns into a cat. It doesn't matter to me."  
Tohru sighed, "Your right... that's not all... but it's not what you think. Kyo doesn't just change into a cat. He changed into something else. The only way to see it is if his beads are taken off of his wrist. Yeah those black and white ones. He turns into something... something horrible. It stinks and it's big. I remember when I first saw it, it terrified me. If once you see it, and can except him without any doubt in your heart, i believe that you can break the curse. But first you've gotta make sure that his true form doesn't scare you away." Tohru smiled sadly, before wishing Annika a good night and going to her room.  
Annika spent another hour or two in the hot springs thinking over what Tohru had said. Eventually she got out and dressed in the Yukata that Kyo and given her for her birthday. And she lay on her bed thinking of what the next couple days held in store.

The next day, Momiji announced that a walk in the forest was in the days plan. Eveyone but Annika and Kyo agreed. Somehow, they all new what was going on between the two of them and wanted to give them time to figure things out. Annika and Kyo sat next to each other in the outside garden watching the fish in the pond swim around. Neither of them spoke, there was a unexplainable tension between the two. Things left unsaid, but neither of them could bring themselves to say it. About an hour later Annika looked up into Kyo's face, keeping her face calm and clear of emotions.  
"Kyo..." Kyo looked at her.  
"Yeah?"  
Annika looked down at her lap, took a deep breath and slowly said he question, "Will you show me your true form?" Kyo's eyes widened, he moved farther away from her, shock, sadness and anger filling his eyes. "Please Kyo, it's the only way. Tohru already told me everything, she told me of the time when Kazuma took your beads away from you in front on her. She told me of your mother. I want to see Kyo. I want to see who you really are." Finally Annika lifted her eyes to meet Kyo's.  
Kyo shook his head, "No... No I will never let you see that monster" His voice was bitter and harsh.  
"I've seen monsters before Kyo. I an accustomed to them. Please... show me" Her eyes became pleading.  
Wild thoughts ran through Kyo's mind. 'Who can she possibly WANT to see that beast! That monster. She'll turn away from me once she sees it' Kyo shook his head once more. "No"  
"Kyo, I know it must hurt. But if you don't how else are we suppose to become closer? How else are we going to break the curse!" The question hung in the air, as sticky as a candy cane when put into someone's mouth. Kyo hung his head, got up and moved to an area where there was a lare amount of space between him and everything else. Will a sad and self hating look in his eyes, Kyo slipped the black and white beads from his wrist. Kyo's eyes changed to a deep purple, he fell to his knees as his body began to change. Arms, legs and neck lengthened, his skin becam green, then there in front of Annika, stood a creature that stunk horribly, purple eyes stared sadly down at her. Annika plugged her nose against the stentch. But she got up from her seat and walked up to Kyo. She raised her hand, Kyo flinched afraid of what she would do. He looked away, not wanted to see when her face realized what he was, a monster. But it never came to her mind. Annika walked into his view and laid her hands on either side of his face and stared right into his eyes.  
'Is this really my Kyo?' Annika thought to herself. 'Is this the monster that Tohru told me about? Is this what has made him an outcast?' Tears flowed down her cheeks but she did not move, Instead she brought his head down, kissed him between the eyes and pulled his head into her chest, holding him close. "Ya know Kyo, I don't know about here in Japan, but in America when someone loves someone else, it means they loves someone for what they truly are. No matter what that may be. Some people don't see how special someone else is, because they don't look close enough. They don't see the beauty in anything else but in what they were told to find beauty in. Nothing more. Of course, your teeth make me nervous, and you couse use either a bath or a lot of air fresheners, but your eyes say everything that i need to know." She kissed him once again on the top of his head, before she let go she whispered, "I'm not going anywhere" She picked up his beads and placed them next to his wrists. Smiling up at him Annika stated, "Come find me when you change back, although I might be in the hot springs... But I'm gonna finish some things back in my room before then... so who knows"

(Lemon scene)  
Kyo walked into Annika's room to find it empty. He was still a bit shocked by her display out in the garden, but he could not even place the relief that spread throughout his body at her acceptance of his true form. Not even Tohru had been that fearless. Slowly he walked into the girl's side of the hot springs to find Annika leaning against the wall, eyes closed. The look on her face was peaceful, weary but peaceful. Kyo stood against the door way just looking at her, her hair was tied up, to him she was beautiful in all ways and forms. Nothing about her was wrong. She was graceful, she had a way about her that never stoped amazing him. He spend the next fifteen minutes watching her. But he was taken out of his toughts when her voice flowed across the air.  
"Kyo... You can either keep standing there, leave, or come join me. I kinda am hoping you won't pick the first one, since that's the most uncomfortable one." A small smile licked at the edges of her mouth. Her eyes never having opened, Kyo stripped and slowly got into the warm water.  
With out thinking about it, Kyo went straight up to Annika and kissed her squarely on her deliciously red lips, but careful not to touch chests. Their kiss was gentle and loving. But it soon became more passionate and heated. Kyo's hands raised to rest on Annika's breasts. Annika moaned in Kyo's mouth as she wrapped her arms around his head. Kyo devoured her mouth, not leaving any part unexplored. After the need for breath became apparent, Kyo started leaving a trail of kisses down to her neck. He found a spot at the base of her neck that made her moan loudly. Proud of himself for doing this to her, he spent some time at that spot, giving it as much attention as he could give it. As his mouth explored her neck and jaw line, his hands roamed south, mentally memorizing every curve. Her skin was hot underneith the water. One hand went back to her right breast as his other hand came up the inside of her thigh.  
Annika gasped as she felt Kyo use one of his fingers to rub the small bud of nerves, fire spreading through out her body. Watching her face, Kyo could tell she was embarrassed and was just barely allowing him to do this. Her eyes had closed when Kyo had touched her sacred area, a deep blush colored her cheeks. No one had ever touched her like this. Although some had tried, she never felt the need for such attention until now, with Kyo. Annika's eyes flew open when Kyo slipped on finger into her core and gentle pumping his finger in and out. She was tight even with one finger inside her, 'She's a virgin' Kyo said to himself, but of course so was he so he was ok with it. But he was now even more determined to make it the best first time for her. A moan escaped from between her lips. Annika's hands slid down to his shoulders where she took hold, she brought him back into another passionate kiss. It was slightly unconfortable have Kyo do such things to her, but at the same time she could feel heat coursing threw her body. Annika almost cried out in pain when Kyo inserted a second finger. Alarmed, Kyo looked at her and stilled his figers.  
"Annika, I"m so sorry. I'll stop" He began to take his fingers out when he was stopped by her hand. She kissed him once before looking at him.  
"No. Don't stop. Just be gentle and go slow" She smiled inspite of the pain giving Kyo the encouragement that he needed. Trusting her the decision he as gently as he could he slowly pumped his two fingers in and out of her core. The grip on his shoulders became extremely tight, but he ignored it, he owed her at least this. Kyo continued to slowly pump his fingers for another five or ten minutes before he felt her relaxe around his fingers all the while paying as much attention as he could to her neck, so at to take her mind away from the pain. Grimacing Kyo looked up at his love.  
"I'm going to insert another figer ok? Tell me if it's too painful and you want me to stop" Annika nodded her head, but cried out as his third figer slid itself in. 'If this hurts her, how can she take me? I'm pretty sure i'm bigger then three fingers' the thought kept running threw Kyo's mind, but all the same he kept his slow gentle pace up, waiting for the slightest sign that she wanted him to stop. Until then he went back to kissing her everywhere he could get, massaging each of her breasts, and whispering sweet nothings in her ear. Telling her how much she ment to him, and how much he loved her. Annika moved her hand to bury it in his hair, and forced herself to calm down enough to relax at least a little around him. Another five minutes later she looked at him with fire in her eyes, she pulled him in for a mind blowing kiss her silent ok for him to finally go on.  
"But not here" Annika took Kyo's hand and lead him out of the hot springs and into her room. Kyo smirked, and gently pushed her back onto the bed.  
"Are you sure about this Annika? Cause if you don't want to do this-" But Annika cut him off by taking his massive manhood into her hands and pumping her hands, Kyo moaned loudly.  
"Yes i'm sure. I haven't been so sure of something in my life. Now please Kyo, make love to me" The look in her eyes left no room for questioning. The smile on Kyo's face was that of the same as a boy lead into a candy shop. Kyo spread open Annika's legs and took one of her nipples into his mouth and began to suck on it. As he did this he manuvered himself infront of her entrance. Muttering his deepest regret, with one quick thrust he buried himself up to the hilt. Annika dug her finger nails into Kyo's back, sobs shaking her body. Slowly Kyo pulled out slightly and pushed back in. He didn't this until Annika thrusted her hips to meet his own. Annika smiled up at Kyo, love filling every inch of her face. Kyo then began to pick up his pace a little bit.  
Moans cascaded out of both their mouths, it was hard to tell when one's body ended and the others began. Kyo continued to pick up the pace, encouraged by the gasps and moans flying out of Annika's mouth. The noises she made were music to his ears. It wasn't long before he was thrusting in her with everything he had, making sure if was pleasurably for both him and her. Annika moved her hands to touch every inch of Kyo she could. She still couldn't believe how much pleasure Kyo was giving her. She felt a pressure in the pit of her stomach, one that continued to climb. As it started to become unbareable she heard herself moan Kyo's name over and over again.  
A couple more thrusts and Annika screamed in pure ecstacy "KYO!". Her back bowed as she rode out her orgazim. Kyo followed soon after, the clenching of her tight virgin muscles making it impossible to hold out. Kyo moaned as he spilled his seed inside of her. He pulled out of her and lay next to Annika. While her one hand played with his hair she whispered, "I love you Kyo, i love you more than anything" She leaned over and kissed him sensually on the lips.  
(End of Lemon scene)

Kyo's eyes widened, his body jerked a little as he felt his cat spirit move. He sat up, wrapping his arms around himself, not sure what was happening to him. Then he felt his cat spirit leave him.

"Yuki!! Come look at this!" Momiji said, pulling Yuki behind him. Yuki followed but stopped abruptly as he felt his rat spirit disipate from within him. He looked at the others, who had also felt the same thing. Shigure smirked at the thought that they all had. Annika, they all knew what had happened in their absense.  
"Miss Honda" Yuki turned towards Torhu who looked at him curiously. He stretched his hand out to hers, when she cautiously took his hand he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. Tohru squealed, closing her eyes in preperation of Yuki's transformation. But when it didn't happen she looked up at Yuki and smile.  
"She broke the curse" Tohru could barely contain her glee.  
"Apparently. So in which I suggest we all go back and eat. I'm hungry" Shigure turned around and started heading back towards the hot springs. Everyone else followed, eager to head back.

"Annika!" Kyo's voice was one of pure joy, he pulled Annika to him. "Thank you" Kyo held Annika tightly to his chest, never wanting to let her go. She had freed him of his curse, he was no longer the cat, no longer the outcast. Annika wrapped her arms around him, breathing a sigh of relief, she was now able to be near him without fear of him changing. They stayed in each other's arms for a long time, not speaking a word but knowing that words were no longer needed. They layed down, Annika's head Kyo's chest and they fell asleep in each other's arms.

☼☼

Alright there you have it everyone. I hope it wasn't that bad of a lemon.   
But of course there are more to come in later chapters. at least I hope. We'll see how the story plays out.


	5. NO WAY

This chapter might be a bit short compared to the others. But I hope you like it all the same.  
Reviews would be nice! Thanks all!

☼☼

Open My Heart: "NO WAY"

"We're home!!" Shigure announced as they all walked into the house.  
"No one's home dim wit" Kyo countered as he pasted his cousin carrying his bags as well as Annika's. Annika giggled as Shigure looked mockingly hurt.  
"Now my dear cousin, is that anyways to talk to me? Your dear Older Cousin?" Kyo just shook his head and walked up the stairs to dispose of their luggage. When he reached the top floor he felt a hand cover his.  
"I can take it from here." Annika took her bags and headed towards her room, innocently smiling at Kyo as she turned away from him. All Kyo could do was watch her leave, memories of that night at the beginning of the week flouding his mind. Laughing at himself Kyo walked the other direction to his room where he quickly put his stuff away. After emptying his bag he headed over to Annika's room. Where he found her with her back towards him, slowly unpacking her bag onto the bed. Coming up behind he wrapped his arms around Annika, laying his head on her shoulder taking a deep breath. She smelled of vanilla. He feel her smiling, but she continued to unpack her bag.

Eventually Kyo let go of her and silently started taking the things from her bed and putting them into their rightful spots. When everything was put away Annika put her bag back into the closet before joining Kyo on the bed, laying her head in his lap. Kyo couldn't help but worry a little bit, Annika hadn't really said anything since they got in the car. And Kyo knew that she wasn't really one to be that quiet. Silently, Kyo ran his hand through her hair, wondering what he should say.  
"What's the matter? Your quiet" he looked down at her and she rolled so she was looking up at him.  
"No reason... I guess i'm just missing home" a small sad smile touched her lips, she started playing with the hem of his shirt. She then sat up and looked at him, "We never went on our picnic" Excitement sparkled in her eyes. Kyo couldn't help but laugh at her sudden mood change. He remembered when they were going to go on their picnic. Momiji had come and told them that he wanted them to go to the Hot Springs with him, Hitori and Ayame.  
"We'll have to do that soon now won't we? When do you want to go?"  
"How about next saturday? Since we can't get out of school to go on a picnic!" Annika giggled at the thought. She leaned in and kissed Kyo's cheek. "I say Saturday" With a smile on his face, Kyo nodded his agreement.

"BASTARD!"  
"Your a bit slow today." Yuki turned around and walked back into the class room leaving Kyo laying on the floor. Annika walked out of the room and walked over to him, holding out her hand. Kyo took hold of it and pulled himself up. Mumbling angrily.

'That damn rat! Who the hell does he think he is?!" He was saying as they walked into class just as the bell rang."Stupid rat" he muttered angrily as he sat down at his desk. Annika smiled, knowing very well that he'll get over it. When class was over Tohru, Hana and Uo came over to her desk. They talked and talked.  
Then Uo over her shoulder and looked back at Annika, "So what's truely going on between you can orangie over there? He keeps looking over at you with that strange look he's always giving you. It's kinda freaking me out" Annika laughed at her friend.  
"Don't worry about it. Is it really not that obvious what's going on between me and Kyo?"  
Hana shook her head, "You two have high energy levels when around each other-"  
"But" Uo cut in, "You two don't seem like you are anything more then friends one day and then the next day everyone can tell something up between you two. So mind spillin?"  
Tohru hid a smile behind her hand, pretending to yawn. Annika put down her pencil, and looked over at Kyo. He was openly staring at her with the face that she knew oh so well. The one that was he always used a mixture of confusion, love, and that stubborn manly face that told her he was trying not to let anyone else see what was written on his face. All it did was make her laugh. She turned back to her friends, and motioned for them to come closer. "Alright I'll tell you. The ever since June me and Kyo... We've been... well i guess you could say we've been a couple" A deep crimson blush flushed her face, Uo and Hana's were pure shock.  
"NO WAY!" Uo said, a little too loudly. Everyone in the classroom stopped what they were doing and looked at the circle of girls.  
"EEKK" Annika quickly stood up and covered Uo's mouth and whispered to her, "Shh! Don't say that so loudly! Everyone will hear you" She slowly took her hand away from Uo's mouth and sat back down, her face still bright red.  
Hana sat in a chair next to Annika, "You and Kyo?" Annika silently nodded her head.  
"The world is turning upside down" Uo said right before the teacher came into the classroom which signaled everyone to take their seats. As the day went on, Kyo and Yuki got into another one of their fights, while Annika was telling Uo and Hana all about the past couple months with Kyo and the girls telling stories of Kyo at school. When the end of the day came Annika stood out front. Waiting for Kyo to meet her. Just when she wasn't expecting she felt arms wrap around her from behind and pulled against a warm muscular chest. She jumped in surprise. Then she heard Kyo chuckle in her ear.  
"Jumpy today aren't you?" Annika turned around in his arms and looked up into his eyes. Sheepishly she smiled at him, blushing a light pink. She couldn't but see that smirk smile on his face, he was enjoying this. Without warning he pulled her in a deep kiss. Just then a stream of girls came walking out the front doors, they caught sight of them. Some started giggling, and some were too shocked to do anything. Annika's face was a deep crimson, Kyo hadn't kissed her like this since the night the curse was broken. What had come over Kyo Annika couldn't figure out. When he let her free of his kiss she layed her head on his chest, not sure whether to be miffed at him or to be happy. She didn't think she liked the public kissing. But all the same, her heart was in the clouds. Finally deciding to be happy with him, she smiled and took his hand. The girls behind them gasped, 'Did you see that!?' 'Are they together?' 'Who would have thought that the exchange student would have tamed him' 'Isn't that Kyo Sohma? Yuki Sohma's relative?' were all comments that they heard. Glancing over at the girls still staring at them, she smiled happily and her and Kyo started their walk home.

When they were half way home, Annika turn to him and gently punch him in the arm. "You did that on purpose!" her face flushed for the third time that day.  
Kyo laughed, rubbing his arm, "Yeah i couldn't help it. I knew by the look on your face from earlier in the classroom that you told those two weirdos about you and me"  
"I hope you don't mind" Annika looked at Kyo alarmed.  
"No. I don't mind at all, it's actually a relief. Annika..." Kyo stopped and looked at Annika. His face was serious, "I want to thank you once again. You've freed me of who i use to be. I know for curtain i'm not who i use to be. I'm not angry anymore, i mean yeah a get angry at that damn rat, but that won't change. I'll always want to beat his ass. But I no longer have this hatred for everything around me anymore. And I have you to thank for that" All the rest of the way home they were silent, knowing they didn't hae to speak word to understand what each was feeling.  
In all honesty, Annika already knew he had changed. Ever since the curse was lifted, Kyo didn't shout as much as he did. Yeah Yuki and Kyo's situation hadn't changed, but no one expected that to change. Kyo wasn't so tense anymore either. Yeah he hadn't been as bad as he use to be once her and Kyo started going out, but it was still a big difference.


	6. Unexpected Visitor

This chapter might be a bit short as well. But still. Enjoy!  
Reviews would be nice! Thanks all!

☼☼

Open My Heart: Unexpected Visitor

The week pasted, because of Kyo's little display the how school was now talking about how one of the Sohma's had a girlfriend, the exchange student no less. Everyone was talking about it. Even the teachers were talking about it. Apparently it shocked everyone to see the orange haired, bad tempered Sohma act so calm and easy with this foreign girl.

Saturday came bright and early. Annika woke up bright and early, and wasn't surprised when she didn't find her Fruit Loops sitting on her night stand. She had awake two hours early(aka 5am). Quietly she put on her sweats and tank top before slipping downstairs and out the front door, her shoes in hand. She had way too much energy in her body. She felt warmth course threw her body as she thought about the day ahead. A picnic with Kyo made her whole day seem wonerful. After putting her shoes on, she started her rutine morning run, deciding to take her run a little farther then usual. The air was crisp and clear, fall had deffinitely come to call. She spent the next three hours instead of two running/jogging, taking her usuall pit stop at the park to catch her breath and look around. When she finally returned home, she went straight to the shower to wash off the sweat pouring off her body. The water felt cooling and refreshing.  
Annika couldn't put a finger on why today felt so good. It didn't really make sense to her, but she put it out of her mind. When she returned to her room she looked at the clock. It read 9:15 am. She couldn't help but smile when she found a fresh bowl of Fruit Loops sitting on her night stand. "Your too good to me" Annika said to herself as she finished getting dress before picking up the bowl. She ate her breakfast as she walked down the hall to Kyo's room. When she walked in she found Kyo reading on his bed. "So you excited for this afternoon?" Annika said as she made herself comfy on his bed. Kyo looked up at her slightly surprised.  
"Yeah. Where did you go this morning?" Kyo looked back down at his book.  
Annika shrugged, "Oh, I woke up really early. I was too excited to go back to sleep so i decided to take my run a little earlier and a little longer then usual" Then Annika turned her attention back to her Fruit Loops, which she ate with a passion. Kyo laughed as he got off his bed.  
"I don't think you did a good job at getting rid of that energy" he said as he put away his book. Then he walked back to the bed and set back down, watching her eat. When she was done she sigh in relief. She got up and when downstairs with Kyo in tow. "You wanna train with me today??" Kyo asked her as he started to head out to th back.  
"Yeah why not" Annika followed him, thankful she had put on another pair of sweats.

"You need to try and need your legs higher when you kick" Kyo said as the two of them walked back inside. Annika nodded her head, she was going over the technics that Kyo had showed her. She would keep them in her mind always. Just in case. As they walked into the kitchen for water they realized that it was getting close to noon. So they went and took showers in turn before taking the basket that was sitting on the counter and heading over to the park. As they got there Annika ran ahead and did a cart wheel. Energy coursed through her veins, an unexplainable happiness was all she felt in her heart.  
Kyo watch in amazment as she turned to him with that face. The face that made him want to be a better person. She was happy, that alone made being with her all the better. Together they found a spot near a bunch of trees and they set up their picnic. A breeze gently moved the tree's leaves, but the air was still warm. As they sat close to each other eating off of eac other's plates, Annika could help but think about life with Kyo. She couldn't think of being without him, but what did life have in store for them. But no matter what thought came to her mind, this is where she wanted to be. With Kyo.  
After they ate, they wrestled a big before cuddling up against a tree watching the people around them. They spent the all afternoon at the park together, talking and just being with each other. When it was beginning to come to early evening they packed up their things and walked hand in hand back.  
Annika and Kyo were in deep conversation when Annika caught sight a familiar form walking ahead of them. She couldn't help the confusion that flooded her mind. "What the-" just then the girl went around the corner, quickly Annika dropped what was in her hands and ran after the girl. As she turned the corner she yelled, "ISABELLA!" The girl turned around alarmed. Her eyes were confused but they soon became wide.  
"ANNIKA!" The two girls screamed and ran at each other. They embraced, holding each other tightly. Shock consumed Annika's mind. She couldn't believe it. "Oh Annika! I'm so glad i ran into you! I was so lost!!"  
Annika kissed her sister's forehead before letting her go and taking hold of her hands. "Oh my you've grown! But what are you doing here?? I can't believe mother let you come!" They heard running foorsteps behind them. Annika turned around to find Kyo running towards them, his face not very happy. Smiling sheepishly she walked towards Kyo pulling her sister behind her. "Kyo!"  
Kyo slowed to a walk, "What the hell! Suddenly you run off, run around a corner and all i hear are screams!" Annika knew he wasn't all that angry, just worried.  
"Kyo!" Annika smiled, "I want you to meet someone very special to me" She moved aside to reveal Isabella. Kyo's jaw dropped, "Kyo, this is my younger sister Isabella" to Kyo, looking at Isabella was like looking at Annika but this one was younger looking. Kyo had seem pictures of Isabella but none of them truely showed how much alike these two sisters were. Remembering his manners, Kyo bowed and said in English, "Kyo Sohma. Pleasure to meet a member of Annika's family"  
Isabella giggled, and pulled Annika closer and whispered in Italian "Dunque questo è questo Kyo che ho sentito così molto circa"(1) Annika's cheeks flushed.  
"Sì questo l'è"(2) Annika switch over to English so as not to be too rude, "I hope you'll come back to the Sohma house with us! You must tell me everything that's been going on at home!" Through the excitement in her voice Isabella detected a slight edge in her sister's voice.  
"Of course I'll come with you! I didn't know where i was going anyways. But on our way back tell me everything so far! What's it like living here Anna?" At the name Kyo raised his eyebrows, a gesture that Isabella didn't miss. "What? Did i say something wrong?"  
Kyo shook his head, "I'm surprised you called her that. The last time someone called Annika that, well lets just say that they left with a bloody nose" Annika gently punch him in the arm.  
Isabella laughed, "Yeah that doesn't surprise me. Annika was always known for being kinda rough with people back home, as i recall I'm the only person allowed to call her that"  
"And as i recall that person called me Anna Banana" Annika's face grimaced at the memory. Her two comanions laughed as they continued their walk back to the Sohma house.

☼☼

Translations:

(1)_So this is the Kyo i've heard so much about  
_(2)_Yes this is him_


	7. Reunited

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Reviews would be nice! Thanks all!

☼☼

Open My Heart: Reunited

"We're home!" Annika called as the three of them walked into the house. She turned to her sister, "Stay here, I'll be right back. I'm going to change my shirt then I'll show you around the place" With that Annika went upstairs and Kyo went into the kitchen to put away the basket. As Isabella stood in the hall, Shigure walked out.  
"Oh there you are Annika! How did your picnic go?" He spoke in Japanese not realizing that it wasn't Annika he was talking to. Then he really looked at her. And continued to speak in japanese, "Wow, Annika. I didn't know you were going to change your hair color? Did you two come back so you could change?" He stood there waiting for an answer that he didn't realize would never come. Isabella looked at Shigure, completely lost. The two of them stared off, not knowing what was with the other. Soon Annika bounded down the stairs, speaking in clear English.  
"Ok, So how about we start with the family?" She stopped at the end of the stairs, looking between Shigure and her sister. Shigure looked at Annika, then looked back at the other, then looked back at Annika.  
"Wha..."  
Annika started laughing realizing his mistake, Isabella looked at her older sister, slightly annoyed, "Do I really look that much like you?" she couldn't take it, Annika finally had to sit down from laughing so hard. Shigure continued to look lost. When Annika finally caught her breathe she found that Yuki and Kyo and joined them in the hall.  
Finally, Annika stood up wipping the tears from her eyes. Speaking in English she turned to Shigure "This lovely lady here is my younger sister Isabella." Then she turned so she could face both Shigure and Yuki at the same time. "Isabella, This man here is Shigure, and this is Yuki. Now come, tell me how you came to be here" Annika took her sister's hand and lead her up the stairs and into her room, leaving the boys to wonder what they would be doing.  
Isabella made herself comfy on her sister's bed as she looked around, "Wow Annika. This room is huge!" Annika laughed at her sisters comment. It was the same comment she had made when she first arrived at the Sohma house. She sat down next to Isabella and took hold of her sister's hands.  
"Please stop avoiding the question. Why are you here?" Annika looked sternly at Isabella's face.  
"Uh well..." Isabella looked around uncomfortably, "Ya see, father had a business trip over here for a few weeks, cause he got his job back. And me and Tyson begged to go with him hoping we could see you" Isabella stopped talking when she saw the look on her sisters face. Annika hated her father, only her family knew why. "Annika, he's been to rehab again and he's doing great this time! He hasn't had any of his moods. He's been a great father ever since he got out"  
"Izzy-"  
"Annika please believe me. He wants to see you ya know. He wants to talk to you, please give him a chance" the pleading look in Isabella's eyes were the only thing that broke Annika's will.  
"Alright" Annika sighed, "I'll invite him over for dinner here tomorrow. But if one thing happens, I refuse to see him the rest of the time he's here got that?" Isabella nodded her head.  
Then out of no where, Isabella tackled Annika squealing, "I'M SO GLAD TO BE HERE!!!" And for the next few hours the two sisters talked about their two lives in Japan and America. When the two finally came out Isabella called their father telling him that she had found Annika and that him and Tyson were invited to come to dinner the next evening. She also told him that she would be staying the night with Annika. After that, Annika introduced Isabella to Tohru and left the two to talk while she went in search of Kyo. She eventually found Kyo on the roof. Annika laid down next to him, putting her head on his chest. Neither one of them spoke for a long time.  
"Kyo?" she said nuzzling his chest.  
"Hm"  
"Can you do be a big big favor?" worried lined her voice.  
Kyo sat up and looked at her conserned, "Yeah, anything. What is it?"  
Annika looked away embarressed, "My father is coming over for dinner tomorrow, would you mind acting as you and I weren't a thing? I only told Isabella about us. I'm not sure how my father will react to you and me, and i don't want to find out tomorrow. I'll tell him, but I'll make sure that it just him and I when I tell him."  
Kyo lifted her chin with his figer and kissed her, when they parted he smiled at her, "Yeah, I don't mind. But i ask that you tell him soon. I want don't like the fact that I have to pretend that your not mine" laughing, Annika hugged Kyo tightly.  
"Thank you Kyo."

Just as dinner was placed on the table, Annika heard a knock coming from the front door. She ran to get it. When she opened the door, a small body threw itself at her. Laughing, Annika picked up the small boy and hugged him.  
"Tyson you little sneak! You've grown as well! How I've missed you!" She then set him back down on the ground where he ran over to Isabella who stood near by smiling. Then Annika turned to her father. He was a tall burly man, black hair and very tanned skin. He smiled down at her, a gentle smile. He opened his arms, and cautiously Annika went and hugged her father. "Come" She said when he let go of her, "We just put dinner on the table"  
Leading them into to the table, she made all the introductions being careful not to mention anything about her and Kyo. She had already told the rest to not saying anything about them. Annika talked with Tyson a lot of the time, seeing as he always looked up to her he wanted to hear all that she had done while in Japan. Annika admired his devotion and determination. But as much as she could she avoided talking to her father, which she didn't find that difficult considering that Mr. Conte and Shigure were in deep conversation. After dinner, Mr. Conte thanked the Sohma's greatful for their hospitality, but saying that they must start heading back before it got too late. Annika walked them to the door. Before she closed the door Mr. Conte turned back to look Annika.  
"Annika, I would like to have dinner with just you this coming friday, if you don't mind. We've got some things to talk about" Mr. Conte looked at Annika intently, "Please don't refuse" Annika sighed and nodded her consent. He smiled at her before getting into the car and driving off.  
Walking back into the kitchen, Annika helped with the rest of the clean up. After all was done Kyo found Annika laying on her bed, hands covering her eyes.  
"I thought tonight went well, what do you think?" He said as he leaned against the door frame.  
"It went well... But of course I have no clue what my father thought" Annika replied, never having removed her hands from their spot. "Thank you again Kyo! You really don't understand how much this means to me" Annika got up and went over to Kyo who smiled down at her.  
"I bet I can understand a little bit. Now, go to bed. You look tired" Kyo placed his hands on her shoulders and steered her towards the bed. He picked her up bridal style and placed her on the bed. Then he pulled the covers over her and kissed her forehead, "Good night"  
"Good night Kyo" And before she took one more breath Annika fell into a deep sleep.


	8. Unforgiveable

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Reviews would be nice! Thanks all!

☼☼

Open My Heart: Unforgivable

As the week past Annika became a little more antsy, if someone came up behind her, she scream her surprise, whereas she would have never even flinched before. Although, everyone just took it for her monthlies. Only Tyon and Isabella knew what truly going on. But they didn't say a word. When Friday came, Annika pulled herself together and put on her best face. As it was starting to get close for Mr. Conte to come pick up Annika, Kyo went in search for her. He found her on the roof looking out into the forest. Kyo sat behind her and pulled her to his chest. Annika tensed, but relaxed into his touch. Turning her head so she could see him, Annika smiled at him, and pulled his arms tighter around her.  
Kyo smiled back at her, glad that she wasn't so different with him, he still wasn't sure what to think of her slight mood change, even if it had been very small. But he put it out of his mind once again. All he was concerned about was holding her. Annika lay her head back on his chest, breathing deeply.  
"Can I ask you a question" Annika asked.  
"You just did" Kyo laughed when Annika turned around and playfully glared at him, "Yeah go ahead"  
Annika turned back around before continuing, "Can I still live here when my exchange student time is up?"  
Kyo looked down at her a little puzzled, he hadn't thought about when her time there had come to an end. And now that he thought about it, it wasn't that far away. An image of him when she left came strongly into his mind. His arms became tighter around her waist as he nuzzled her neck. "Of course you may stay. I won't let you leave without me in any case" Annika chuckled at Kyo's confession. She found it rather cute.  
"Ok, then I'll tell my father about us and about my decision to stay tonight" They sat on the roof up until Tohru came to tell Annika that her father had arrived. Annika got up, lent down to kiss Kyo one more time before squaring her shoulders and going down the ladder. Kyo wasn't far behind her, and they entered the living room together. Mr. Conte was talking with Shigure once again. When Annika and Kyo entered the room he looked at one then the other, but didn't say anything.  
"Alright, let's get a move on shall we?" Mr. Conte said lively.Annika nodded her head, hugged her two siblings who would be having dinner with the Sohma's while their father and Annika went to dinner and then followed her father to the car. The car ride over to the place were Mr. Conte and the children were staying wasn't that far from the Sohma house, Annika actually ran past it every morning. As they entered the house, she saw a table set for two. Annika couldn't help but wonder who her dad at paid to set this up. "Come, Annika please sit and we shall get started" her father said.

"Ah" Mr. Conte sighed and patted his stomach, "That was a great dinner don't you agree? But my you haven't eaten barely at all" he pointed to her plate which had only barely been half eaten. Annika shrugged her shoulders.  
"I'm not all that hungry" Annika smiled at her father, still not understand why he wanted to have dinner with her. They sat there at the table, her father giving lively tails about his work and the children back home. Finally Annika started to relax, maybe her father had really changed this time. That he finally broke his nasty habit. Smiling at this realization, Annika got up and gestured,so as not to interupt her father, into the living room. Everything seemed to be going great. Relief spread through out her body.  
Then suddenly Mr. Conte stopped talking, and looked at his daughter seriously, "Annika, answer be truthfully. Wha't were you doing with that boy?"  
Annika looked at him surprised, "What... what do you mean?"  
"That... Tohru Honda said when I can to get you that you'd probably be up on the roof with that oranged hair freak,and then when you came in that freak was right behind you" Immidiately Annika's hopes were shattered. He hadn't changed at all. But she put her best calm face on, knowing very well what was to come.  
"Kyo is not a freak Papa. He's an amazing guy. But in anycase, me and Kyo were talking, that's all" Annika looked at Mr. Conte with a stubborn look in her eyes.  
"Talking?" Mr. Conte's eyes flamed, "Talking, hm, I'm sure he was the one talking while he held you mouth quiet" Annika gasped.  
"PAPA! How dare you question my integrity. That wasn't what we were doing at all! And in anycase that is none of your business"  
The muscles in his neck tightened, but he didn't move. With a sigh he said, "Well, the sooner your time to come home the better"  
"Papa" Annika said slowly, "I'm not going to go home. I've already talked to the Sohma's and they said that i can continue living here when my time as exchange student here has ended" She could see it coming, "Of course I'd be coming home to visit at least once a year, and i'd be very well cared for. I've got a life here. I've got wonderful friends and a man who loves-" She was cut off by a fist connecting with her left eye. The force of the punch threw her to the floor, where she stayed put, not wanting to risk getting back up.  
"So it is the orange haired freak! I bet he's already bedded you! Hasn't he!? He's brain washed you into thinking that you can do what ever you want!" Mr. Conte came close to her and kicked her in the stomach.  
Gasping for breath, Annika looked up at her father, "He hasn't done anything to me! If he has bedded me that's none of your concern! But he hasn't 'brainwashed' me as you like to call it!" Hatred flowed like venom from her eyes towards the man above her.  
"Dont you talk back to me!" Fists rained down on her back, arms, legs. Annika did her best to fight back, but because of he was five times bigger than her, she could do very little.

Annika walked up to the front door, fixing her hair right before walking in the front door. Slamming the door, her rage was in it's purest form. Isabella and Tyson and everyone else looked around the corner. They were shocked to see her left eye sporting a nasty black eye. But before anyone could say anything she looked at them.  
"Isabella, Tyson your staying the night!" her voice trembling with rage.  
Tyson looked at her confused, "But Annika, isn't papa-"  
Annika cut her little brother off, speaking in Italian, "Il Tyson, il papà non ha preso bene. È tuttavia malato. E finché prende meglio il suo stare qui. Adesso non voglio sentirla parlando del papà capisce?"(1) Tyson's eyes widened and nodded his head, "Now, I want both of you to go upstairs and and i'll get you pj's" Tyson got up as quickly as he could and raced up the stairs. Annika looked at Isabella, Isabella flinched when she saw the fire in her sister's eyes. Kyo stood up to follow but Isabella caught his arm.  
"No. Don't, the shinner is from training, her angry is from papa and her getting into a fight. So she won't be in the mood to talk. Just let her be" She didn't let go until Kyo nodded.  
On the way up to stairs, Annika pushed as much of her anger into the back of her mind. Her and Tyson walked into her room. Tyson sat on the bed and looked at his sister. When Annika knelt down in front of him, he gingerly touched her eye.  
"Did papa hurt you again?" Annika nodded her head, Tyson wrapped his little arms around her neck, being careful not to press too hard in case there were any bruises. Annika hugged him back before going in search of a pj's for Tyson and Isabella. It wasn't long before Isabella came into the room tears streaming down her face. Annika pulled her sister into a hug.  
"Sh it ok. You didn't know. What did you tell Kyo?"  
Isabella pulled away from her and looked up at her, "I told him the the black eye is from training and you two just got into a fight" then she started pulling at Annika shirt, "Let me see"  
"Let's put Tyson to bed first" Tyson had already made himself comfy on her bed, so the two girls changed his shirt and tucked him under the covers. Then Annika grabbed her own pj's and lead Isabella to the bath room. Inside Annika stripped to her underwear. Big black and purple spots littered her body. Tears poured down Isabella's face, knowing very well that it was her fault for having Annika invite their father to dinner a week before. Isabella went to the bath tub and started filling it with hot water. When the tub was filled, Annika took off the rest of her clothes and got into the tub, wincing as the hot water crosses a cut or two. The two went into automatic mode, cleaning any cuts that were acquired. and soaking the deep ugly bruises. When they were finished, Annika looked at her sister.  
"It's not your fault, but i can never forgive him Izzy. What he's done is unforgivable. I can't believe he'll ever change." Isabella wrapped a towel around her sister.  
"I know. I was a fool to believe that he would. I'm sorry Anna." Annika pulled her into a loose hug so as not to put pressure on any of the bruises. "But what if asks you to go to dinner again?"  
Annika sighed, "I'll have to refuse him and bare the worse of it" Annika looked at Isabella, her voice became very stern, "And don't tell anyone about father. You got it? I know that look Izzy, i don't want anyone getting involved between me and father" Isabella nodded her head, "L'amo, now go to bed dear sister"  
"L'amo"(2) Isabella kissed Annika's cheek before leaving her sister to get dressed.

☼☼

Translations:

(1)_Tyson, papa didn't get well. He's still sick. And until he gets better your staying here. Now I don't want to hear you talking about papa understand?  
_(2)_I love you_


	9. Confusion

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Reviews would be nice! Thanks all!

☼☼

Open My Heart: Confusion

Kyo woke up to hear Annika light foot steps in the hall. Quietly so he wouldn't be heard, he followed her down the stairs, and outside. She was getting ready to go on her morning run, he came up behind her and gently placed his hand on her arm. Next thing he knew he was thrown a foot back onto his butt. He looked up at Annika who was covering her mouth. She ran over to him and helped him up while his free hand rubbed the place where she had punched him.  
"Kyo! I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you! I swear it was reflex!" She went behind and started dusting him off, her stomach officially dropping with guilt. Kyo turned and looked at her. He studied her for a moment, not understanding why she was so jumpy.  
"What's gotten into you? Last night... I've never seen you that mad before" Kyo looked at her, expecting an answer.  
Annika shook her head, "Nothings gotten into me"  
"Oh yeah? What about this?" He pointed to his cheek that was red, "I'd have to say that something has. What happened between you and your dad!"  
Annika tensed at the mention of her father, "Nothing happened Kyo, so i'd appericiate it if you dropped it" She turned her back on him and was preparing to start her run.  
Kyo can and stood in front of her, his face red with anger, "No. I won't drop it. Annika you've been acting different ever since your family came into town! Now I wanna know why"  
"That's not your concern Kyo" Annika stepped around him and began running at an easy pace, leaving Kyo to look angrily at her back.  
Mumbling angrily to himself he stalked back into the house. People had already started to come down, they looked at Kyo. He went to the fridge, grabbed the milk carton and walked out of the room. He went up on to the roof and glared out into space.  
'Who does she think she is? _That's not your concern_ bull shit that's not my concern! She freakin knocked me one in the face!' Kyo was so consumed in his thoughts he didn't realized when Isabella came onto the roof. She sat next to him and waited for him to notice her. When he never did, she coughed to get his attention.  
He looked at her, and jumped, "DAMN! Why you have to sneak up on people like that!" He didn't mean to yell at her, but she didn't help his mood by surprising him like that.  
"Sorry" Isabella replied timidly. Then a small smile graced her face when she looked at Kyo's face, "You snuck up on her didn't you?" When Kyo looked at her confused she pointed to his face, "She got ya in the face. That means you snuck up behind her." Isabella giggled ad looked away when Kyo touched his face.  
"Yeah so? What's that got to do with anything?" Kyo said defensively. Taking a deep breath he looked at her, "What are you doing up here anyways?"  
Isabella flexed her toes thinking about how to answer him, "You love Annika don't you?"  
Her question caught him off guard, "Well... yeah. She saved my life. She's strong, stronger then anyone i know"  
"You don't realize how strong she is Kyo" Kyo frowned, not understanding what she ment but before he could say anything Isabella continued, "Annika, she been through a lot. Her and Papa have a bad history. We never talk about what happened to pull them apart. I look up to her alot. She's put up with a lot of pain from our family. Kyo, you've captured her heart, please treat it kindly. She's tough, but truely that's the face she puts on for everyone around her. From what i've heard from her, you've already seen her soft side. From the look on your face, i can tell she hasn't given a lot of people black eyes. She did a lot back home. So you've been good for her. Keep her safe Kyo, you're probably the only one that can" Isabella got up from her spot and walked to the ladder and clumbed down. Kyo was completely lost. He didn't understand what she ment by he was the only one that could keep her safe.  
"Damn, why do girls have to be so confusing" Kyo lay back down and stared at the sky above.


	10. Truth Be Seen

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Reviews would be nice! Thanks all!

☼☼

Open My Heart: Truth Be Seen

'What am I to do?' Annika thought to herself as she started her run home. 'He's mad at me, but i can't tell him why. I can't stand him knowing how weak I am'humiliation spread through out her aching body. She stopped beside a building to ease the pain caused by her bruises. Tears threatened to come forth, but Annika used all her will power to keep them from falling. 'It's no use crying over it. There's nothing you can do to stop him' Taking a deep breathe, Annika once again began running.  
It didn't take long for her to reach home. Quietly she walked inside, careful not to disturb anyone. She gathered clean clothes and headed for the shower. Undressing, she put her sweaty clothes by the door before standing underneither the water. Annika looked down at herself and winced, the bruises were ugly shades of purple, black and blue. They were deep, and they were painful. Looking up, she silently thanked anyone up there that it was only her eye that was visable to everyone else. After washing herself, she dried herself off before putting her clothes that covered her bruises on and walked downstairs just in time for the phone to ring.  
She looked around and realized that no one was going to pick it up. Walking over to the phone she picked it up and held it to her ear.  
"Moshi Moshi(sp?) Sohma Residence." Her voice sounded happy and chipper.  
"Annika?" Annika's entire body stiffened.  
"What do you want?" Her voice lowered to a quiet threatening icy tone.  
"To talk to you and to beg your forgiveness. Please, let us meet once more and I promise not to lay a hand on you" Her father's voice seemed to sound sad. But there was no moving on Annika's part.

Kyo finally climbed down the ladder and headed into the kitchen just in time to hear Annika one the phone in the other room. Her voice sounded nothing like that he had ever heard before. It was a deadly tone of voice that even to a point frightened him. He stood still not wanting to inturupt anything.

"Forgiveness? What makes you think that you'd ever get that from me?"(A/N! I'm going to put the part that Kyo can't hear in italics just so you know)  
_"Please, Annika let me make it up to you!"  
_"I honestly can't believe you. Who do you think you are? How dare you call yourself my father"  
_"Please, I beg you. I didn't mean to do that to you"  
_"Where have I heard that before?" sarcasim dripped with ever word, "I don't see how you could have even thought i would go to dinner with you again? As far as I am concerned, I never want to see you again. You hear me? You'll never change old man, and don'e plan on picking up Isabella and Tyson. They'll be staying with me until I arrange flights home for them."  
Kyo heard the phone placed back onto the reciever, and quickly went back outside when he heard Annika coming towards kitchen. (A/N: I know the kitchen doesn't ahve a door... but i'm putting one there because i want one there! ) Walking around to the front of the house, Kyo was deep in thought.  
'What happened last night? What did he do to her?' an uneasy feeling knotted within his chest, mentally Kyo made a vow to find out what happened as he began to practice some kicks and punches in the yard.

Annika looked at the phone not sure she just said what she said to the man that could very well kill her. But she didn't get much time to think it over when she heard someone come in the front door. She put her happy carefree face on and greated Kyo.  
"KYO!" She ran up to him and kissed his cheek. Just then Isabella and Tyson came down the stairs with Torhu and Yuki right behind them. Isabella went up to Annika and hugged her.  
"Yuki, Tohru and I are going to the store," Then she looked over at Kyo, "And Tyson would like it if you took him to the dojo. He would like to see what it's like" Tyson shyly looked up at Kyo. Sighing heavily, Kyo nodded his head, and motioned for the kid to follow him. Tyson enthusiasticly followed Kyo, excited that he would finally be able to see his first dojo.  
Annika smiled at her little brother. Tohru walked up to her and smiled at her.  
"You wanna come? Shigure went to his editor's while you were gone so no one will be here if we go without you"  
Annika laughed, "No, go! I'll stay here. I don't feel like going anywhere. Have fun!" With that said, the others started on there way to the dojo and the store. Sighing with relief, Annika went upstairs and got into the beautiful Yukata that Kyo had given her for her birthday months ago and sat on the porch in the back.  
She sat there for over an hour when she heard footsteps in front of her. Looking up she gasped when the man in front of her was her father, his father red with agner. Standing up quickly she glared at him.  
"I said I never wanted to see you again. Get out of here" She felt stronger then she ever had in her father's presence. She felt as if he could not do anything to her.  
"Did you really think that I would let you get away with the way you spoke to me on the phone. No daughter of mine will speak to me like that" Mr. Conte took a step towards her.  
"I am not your daughter! And you are NOT by father! My father died 13 years ago!" Her voice trembled with rage. Clenching her fists, she took a step forward, not allowing him frighten her.  
"We'll see about that" He craked his knuckles as her closed the distance between them. He threw his fist at her but it was caught by her hand a few inches from her face.  
"Don't you think you've given me enough bruises" She twisted his hand back and around behind his back. A leg came and pulled her feet out from under her causing her to let his hand go. Quickly the man turned around and grabbed Annika by the hair.  
"You little whore, I'll have to teach you a lesson in obedience!" Yanking her hair once again, he threw her out onto the lawn. Not waisting any time, he rushed forward and kicked her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Gasping, Annika got up, eye burning with hatred for the man before her.  
"You won't get away with this" Annika gasped out. Using all the will power and strength with in her, she started attacking her father. For a while they actually paired off, but not for long. Mr. Conte landed a veery powerful blow to her head, causing her to fall over. And fisted rained down on her already bruised body. Knowing she could not get back up she covered her head, once again letting him have his way. But... then, they blows ended.

Kyo had come back with Tyson having completed the tour of the dojo to hear fighting the back. He had opened the door right as Mr. Conte gave Annika the final blow to bring her down. When he had recovered from his bone deep shock, he took everything that he had learned and put it to use on this man.  
"You brat! You have no right to interfere with family matters!"  
"It's no longer a family matter when hitting Annika is the case! You will pay for what you have done to her!" Kyo punched the older man's face as hard as he could. With no mercy in him, Kyo landed one more blow before Mr. Conte went out cold, falling to the ground. Breathing hard, Kyo looked at the man, wondering if he should just kill him. He was brought out of his thinking when he heard a soft moan coming from behind him. He turned and say that Annika had not moved. As quick as he could he ran over to Annika and gathered her into his arms.  
"Annika..." Kyo held her tight to his chest and carried her inside, walking past Tyson who had watched the scene from the door. Kyo walked up the stairs and into his room. Where he laid Annka on his bed. Then he went back downstairs, found some rope and tied the unconcious man so he couldn't get away when he woke up. After this, Kyo walked back upstairs, said on the bed and laid Annika's head in his lap. After a few minutes Annika began to stur, she opened her eyes and looked up into Kyo's face. Her eyes wide with humiliation and discust, Annika tried to sit up and groaned and fell back to the bed. With more ditermination, Annika once again tried to sit up. Once she got there, she stood up, Kyo made to stop her, but the look on her face stopped him.  
"Please... Kyo.." And she took a step towards the door just as it burst open.  
"ANNIKA!" Isabella ran into the room and just barely managed to catch Annika when she fell, once again unconcsious.

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Thanks for reading!


	11. Truth Be Heard

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Reviews would be nice! Thanks all!

☼☼

Open My Heart: Truth Be Heard

Heart broken sobs shook the young girl's body as she held her sister's limp body. After a minute Isabella looked up at Kyo.  
"Kyo, help me bring her to the bath room. Her body must be soaked, she'll have cuts i'm sure. We'll need to make sure that they are taken care of." Kyo nodded his head before taking Annika into his arms and took her to the bath room. When they arrived, Isabella turned on the water, making sure that it was warm before letting the tub fill. Once the bath was filled, Isabella put a down a towel on the floor and motioned for Kyo to lay her there. When Annika lay on the towel began to undress her sister.  
"I'm sure she wouldn't mind you being here, she told me of the night you two shared together when you went to the hot springs. She could never keep anything from me" Isabella smiled in spite of her tears. Quickly glancing over at Kyo, she smiled at his bright red face at the mentioning of the night Annika and him made love for the first time. None the less he stayed by her side, as the ruined Yukata was taken off her body.  
Kyo's body became numb when dark, mind blowing bruises, came into view. Especially when he realized that he was not able to see a trace of her golden creamy tanned skin through the bruises. Isabella had been right, cuts did litter her body, but not as many as the bruises. He was finally able to see why she had been slightly cold towards everyone other then her siblings. Isabella finished stripping Annika of her clothes, she faced Kyo with a grim look, "He's done a number on her. He's never gone this far before. But i guess that doesn't surprise me. Annika has never stood up to him like she had to have before. Kyo please, put her in the tub"  
Doing what he was told, he slowly placed Annika into the tub, suddenly he turned to Isabella.  
"Isabella, you must tell me everything!" He sat by the tub while Isabella began cleaning her sister's battered skin.  
She sighed deeply before saying in almost a whisper, "You see, I don't know when it all started, I was never told. All that i know is that father blames her for something that happened years ago. When I have asked about it, Anna always just said that she had done something wrong when she was young, she told me I was only two at the time, and ever since papa would never forgive her, after that she said that it was something that must never be mentioned again. That's all I know Kyo. I wouldn't lie you"  
"Really?" Kyo couldn't hide the anger in his voice, "Then why didn't you tell me?"  
"Because Kyo," Isabella looked at him, grief in her eyes, "She made me promise not to. I did try to warn to this morning, remember?" Isabella took up the soft sponge on the floor and washed her sister.  
It wasn't long before the two of them finished, drying Annika off, bandaging her open wounds and dressing her in her most comfortable clothes. After that, Kyo walked back into his room and placed Annika on his bed, promising to not leave her side while she was out cold. Yuki came into the room in a rush.  
"What happened? Mr. Conte is laying unconcsious in the back." Yuki looked pissed but then he saw Annika, he knelt next to Kyo and looked at him.  
"That so called man, he did this to her. Take care of that damned fool" And for once, Yuki did what he was told without a sound. Taking her hand Kyo looked into her face and wondered why she had never said anything to him about the way her father treated her. 'Is this what she lived with at home? She never let on that she had such a terrible life at home. She always made it seem like her life there was perfect' His thoughts ran so far from right there that he never saw Annika looking at him, tears of misery flowing down her cheeks.  
"You weren't suppose to find out" Annika's voice was but a whisper, it was all she could do to do that. Kyo's head flew up to look at her, "You were suppose to never have known all this, I tried so hard to make sure you did know" Annika closed her eyes and turned away from Kyo. Deep down in Kyo's heart, he felt it break. He couldn't help but wonder where she had started keeping things from him. Gently, Kyo laid down beside her and loosly placed his arms around her so as not to hurt her more. He kissed her forehead as if she hadn't said anything.  
"Hitori is on his way now, he'll make you better" Kyo's voice clogged with emotion, making it very difficult to breath. They lay in silence until a knock sounded at the door. Hitori walked inside and asked Kyo to wait downsairs with the others. Isabella, held Tyson who was ghostly pail, Yuki and Shigure were sitting drinking tea as they looked at the ground.  
They waited for a long time before Hitori came downstairs, as he entered the room Kyo bolted to his feet. "SO?!"  
Hitori gestured him to sit back down, when he had Hitori sat as well. "She's got extensive bruising, i'm surprised she didn't have any internal bleeding. But she does have a broken rib or two. So she'll have to be in bed for a while. But other then that... the rest is all phsycological."

Annika lay on the bed, wondering what Kyo was thinking.  
'Well... what's done is done, nothing you can do about it now.' She looked at the door when she heard it open. Kyo walked in with a sad smile on his face. He came towards the bed, leaned down and kissed her lips. When he pulled away he sad down next to her, gently carressing her face.  
Suddenly he started laughing, "You always had spunk!" his smile was warm but it turned more serious, "But I can never forgive that man. He had no right to do such things to you"  
Annika looked up at him, "He wasn't always like this"  
"That's what your sister said" Kyo commented.  
Annika couldn't hold his gaze, she turned away from him knowing that she had to tell him, "He use to be nice and loving. He always looked after us. You must understand Kyo, I wasn't the first born" She looked at him to find him quzically looking at her, "It's true. I had a twin and he was older then I. His name was Soren. We were playing along the cliffs near the ocean. I had begged papa to let us go even papa did want to let us go, Soren was even reluctant to go. But I was so persistent that Papa finally gave in and I dragged Soren to the cliffs. After he was over being mad at me, we started wrestling..." Annika stopped, her throat suddenly dry, but she forced herself to go on, owning it to Kyo the truth, "He tackled me we were already close to the edge but this made us even closer, when i got up i stepped back causing the ground below to give way. Soren, as little as we were, was always protective of me. He pulled me back but... he... he fell into the rocks concealed just below the ocean surface" Annika looked at Kyo, eyes filled with grief, "When papa found out... he was broken. Papa blamed me, even though I tried to caught him before he fell. That's when it all started, that was right before we moved to America. Papa couldn't stand being in his hometown anymore" White hot pain spread through her body as she cried. Reliving the horrid event once again over in her mind. Kyo took her head in his hand and looked at her.  
"Annika, please... I can't imagine how painful those memories are... but you have got to calm down... You've got a broken rib or two... You'll hurt yourself even more if you don't settle down." Fear consumed him, suddenly he remember hearing Hitori say that there was a seditive just in case her emotional being began to get the hold of her, considering that her situation he thought it would be best to leave it. Quickly, not knowing what else to do, Kyo got the liquid and surprisingly got Annika to swallow it. Immidiately Annika calmed down, and finally fell into a deep sleep.  
Kyo lay down next to her, and fell asleep next to her, knowing full well that now what his turn to save her.

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Kinda cheezy... i know... but... i was having a hard time with this chapter.  
I'll probably make it better later on.  
I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for reading!


	12. Understanding

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Reviews would be nice! Thanks all!

☼☼

Open My Heart: Understanding

_"You don't realize how strong she is Kyo... She's put up with a lot of pain from our family... She's tough, but truely that's the face she puts on for everyone around her."_

It was a week since the incident with Mr. Conte, he had been taken to the authorities where they delt with him accordingly. But the words Isabella had spoken the morning of the incident kept replaying in Kyo's mind. Now he understood what the young girl ment by all that she had said. She was right, Annika was strong, but she was broken... just like he had been.  
She was still having trouble looking at him, and she would barely talk to him. But under Hitori's care, she was healing surprisingly fast. Apparently she just cracked a rib instead of actualy broke it, which helped thing alot, but was still painful at times. All the same, Kyo never left her side. He would sit on the bed, fall asleep with her, and he even read his favorite book to her. (A/N: Kyo... favorite book?? That's kinda scary . )  
It was late at night, Kyo had fallen asleep with his head laying on the side of the bed, but Annika was wide awake.  
'Why does he still care? Didn't he see how weak I was letting him do that to me?' Annika was so confused that she didn't want to try and figure it out. Finally, it suddenly came to her, 'What am I thinking? Annika you've been such a fool! He loves you, has he not already proven that to you? What about that night at the hot springs! How could you have been so blind!" She reached over and started running her hand through his soft hair. A smile broke onto her lips as he began to stir. He looked up at her sleepily, suddenly he was wide awake.  
"Is there something that you need?" he asked completely alert, Annika shook her head and moved over.  
"Lay down with me" Kyo smiled, and climbed into bed with her. He wrapped his arms around her, making sure he didn't put too much pressure on her middle section, but he wasn't too worried. Her bruises had been healing fast concidering the tree things Isabella had been using to help heal them. Ice, Arnika gel and tons of fruits and veggies. Kyo was skeptical at first, but he was proven wrong when they didn't look so ugly after a day or two. Annika snuggled up to him as much as her body would let her, laying her head on his chest. She was beginning to think that Kyo had fallen back to sleep when he spoke to her.  
"So... what's with the change of heart? You've been really cold to me all week" His voice gentle, and deep, warming Annika immediately.  
"Honestly... I was ashamed to look at you. I was afraid that you would think of me weak. I was to blind to think of anything else. But then... I realized that if you were dissappointed in me, it wouldn't matter, cause you love me more then that" Annika felt his hand stroak her head.  
"I never even thought of that Annika. I don't think of you as weak. Quite the opposite actually. I thought I had it bad. But I was never physically hurt like you have been. I can now fully see why Isabella looks up to you so much. She has a good reason to. You put up with a lot of pain from your father, and I can't help but love you even more for that." Annika fisted her hands in his shirt, silent tears running down her face. She was happy that she hadn't lost his love like she had thought not an hour ago. After that, nothing else was said, nothing else was needed to be said. So the two fell asleep in each other's arms.

☼☼

There ya go.   
Lemon next chapter!


	13. Oops LEMON!

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Reviews would be nice! Thanks all!  
LEMON THIS CHAPTER

☼☼

Open My Heart:

"HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!" chimed Annika as she walked down the stairs, empty bowl in hand.  
Isabella and Tyson had left the week before, having opted to stay with Annika until she was truly back on her feet. She headed into the kitchen to be greeted by everyone. Setting her bowl by the sink, she went over to where Kyo was sitting and slipped her arms around his neck.  
Kyo smiled, "Ya know if you don't get ready you'r going to make us all late for school"  
Annika stood up and started heading towards the door, "Your right, I better do that" And bounded up the stairs.  
Twenty minutes later, Annika came down the stairs just in time for them to yell up the stairs for her to hurry up. Taking Kyo's hand in her own, they all walked to school.

"ANNIKA!!!" Annika had barely walked inside the school when she saw Machi come running down the hall. Machi had been a girl that she meant on accident during lunch the week before. They had become fast friends, Machi was a year younger then her so she was Momiji's and Haru's class. When Machi had reached Annika she slowed down. "Annika I need help, we have a test in math and I don't know how to do some of it! Please help me!" Annika smiled at the younger girl and nodded her head, and almost laughed at the girls change of facial expression. She turned to Kyo and told him that she would meet him later as she was pulled down the hall with Machi.

The bell for lunch rang, and Kyo and Annika headed up to their spot. Sometimes their friends joined them, but today it was just the two of them. After their lunches were finished, Kyo pulled Annika to him and laid his head on top of her own.She had been unusually quite threw lunch, so eventually he just had to find out.  
"Your still thinking about him aren't you?"  
Annika nodded her head, "I can't help it. I wonder what it would have been like if he were here. But I'm fine. Really! I'm happy, and Soren would have wanted me to be happy. Even at our age, he was always protective me, wanting me to be happy" Annika laughed at the memories.  
Kyo dipped his head and began sucking on her neck. Encouraged by her gasp, he sucked a little harder.  
"Kyo, your... going to give me a hickey!" But she made no move to get away. His sucking then turned into kisses that lead to her ear.  
"I'm glad your happy" He whispered huskily, "But we should go home. Shigure isn't home cause he's at the main house" Annika turned around to look in his eyes. He slightly pink, but his eyes made her nod her head. And together they walked home hand in hand.

(Lemon starts!)  
As they walked in the house, Kyo picked up Annika bridal style and walked up the stairs and into his room. He laid her on his bed before climbing on top of her, capturing her lips with his own. His kiss was gentle but forcefull all at the same time. Annika returned his kiss not wanting it to end. As they kissed, Kyo's hands began to unbutton her top. Once that was done he took her right breast into his hands, and gently squeezed it threw her bra. Annika put her hands on his chest and slowly pushed him back causing Kyo to look at her a little hurt. But he smiled, when she pulled her shirt off and took off her bra as well. Pushing her back, Kyo took her left breast into his mouth and licked and sucked loving the moans and gasps he pulled out of her.  
Annika's hands buried themselves in his hair as he ravished her chest. Kyo nibbled and sucked until it was hard, then he moved to the other giving it the exact same attention he gave the other. When he was satisfied, he began his desent, nipping and kissing, wanting to taste every part of her. His hardened length throbbed painfully inside it's cloth cage but he pushed it out of his mind intent on his mission. As he neared her skirt, he took his hand and slipped in under and began messaging that small bud of nerves that made her writhe in pleasure. But it didn't last long like that before he slipped off her skirt along with her panties. Annika looked at him as he spread her legs farther apart, giving him access to dip his head and lick her. Cheeks red, Annika's arched slightly. If it hadn't been for the electric shots shooting through her body, Annika would have laughed when she heard him purring quietly.  
Kyo loved the taste her, slightly sad that he hadn't thought to do this their first time. But he put it out of his head when Annika moaned loudly. Kyo wanted more of her, so he decided to try another method. Annika almost sat up in surprise when she felt Kyo slide his tounge inside of her, but she couldn't believe how amazing it felt to have him there. Kyo laughed at her reaction, and came back leaving kisses along the way before one again claiming her mouth with his. Passion flowed from one to the other and back again.  
Then Annika pulled away and frown at Kyo.  
"What?" Kyo asked completely confused.  
Annika pulled at his shirt, "That's not fair! I don't want to be the only one naked!" She pulled Kyo's shirt off and began undoing his pants. Eventually, Kyo had to get off the bed and take them off himself because Annika's shaking hands just couldn't get them undone. Once his pants off, Kyo climbed back on top of Annika and immidiately pushed a two fingers inside her and began to stretch her. After making sure she was stretched enough so she wouldn't get hurt Kyo pulled his fingers out of her.  
Annika pulled Kyo down and latched onto his lips as she wrapped her legs around him. Taking that as his ok, Kyo pushed his way past her enterance. Annika gasped as he filled her, but she didn't feel the pain she had last time, all she felt was pleasure running up and down body. Quickly, she pushed back wanting to feel him a far inside of her has she could get him.  
"Kyo" Annika moaned his name. Kyo slowly pumped in and out of her, wanting to prolong this as much as he could. All the while, Kyo watched her face. Having a clear view of her face he was in utter amazement of the woman he was inside at that moment. Her face at this moment would be in his dreams the rest of his life. He picked up his pace when he reminded himself that he didn't know when Shigure would be home. Annika wrapped her arms around him and brought him as close to her as she could, loving the feeling of being able to feel his whole body against her's this time. Latching onto her neck, Kyo thrusted as deep as he could when he felt her walls tighten around him.  
Annika screamed as her orgasim came fast and hard. Kyo grunted as his own came and he release himself inside her. Kyo collapsed on top of her not able to hold himself up any longer. But he smiled and kissed her neck once more before rolling them both over so she was laying on top of him.  
(End of Lemon)  
Kyo stroaked(sp?) her hair as she laid panting on his chest.After a time, Annika raised her head and softly kissed his lips and smiled at him.  
"I love you" She whispered.  
"I love you too. Now lay down," Kyo said laughing, "You look completely worn out" Annika couldn't help but laugh with him and did what she was told. Kyo tugged the sheet up to cover them both as he watched Annika fall into slumber before dropping off himself.

Shigure sat at his desk with a smile on his face. He didn't have to ask what was going on upstairs  
"Oops, did I forget to tell them that I wasn't going to the Main House today?" he said to himself, "Well in any case, I'm sure they'll want me to call and excuse them" Shigure went into the hall and picked up the phone and had to stop himself before he 'accidentally' dialed Hitori or Ayame and called the school.

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Reviews are nice!


	14. READ! AUTHOR ANNOUNCEMENT!

**ANNOUNCEMENT!**

Hey everyone!

There's a couple things that I would like to say.

1) Now if your reading this and you haven't read the whole story yet... please do so and then return to read the rest! Thanks a lot!

2) I need people to start reviewing. Other wise I won't be writing anymore. And I'd really like to finish the story. So before I post the next chapter, I need at least 5 to 10 reviews!

3) Ok... now because I feel like being an amazing author I'm going to open the next chapter or two up... and plus it'll give yal a chance to review wink wink I will be taking suggests for what could happen in the next chapter or two. Now whether I like your idea and write about it is my choice. But I am going to take any suggestion into consideration (unless... I'm sorry to say it has anything to do with them breaking up. That'd be too sad) But I would like to know where you guys might like the story to go! (I've got a couple ideas in mind... but I would like to save them for later! )  
Plus this will let me see what you guys like!

So... If you would like me to keep writing... please review! Thanks alot!!

3 Always,  
xxBlackxxAngelxx


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